Low W C, Triarhou L C, Kaseda Y, Norton J, Ghetti B
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46223.
Brain Res. 1987 Dec 1;435(1-2):315-21. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(87)91615-5.
Weaver mutant mice are characterized by a decrease in striatal dopamine (DA), which is associated with a progressive loss of DA neurones in the substantia nigra. This mutant thus provides the opportunity to examine the functional effects of DA neurones grafted to the striatum in a genetic model of parkinsonism. Ventral mesencephalic tissue from normal foetuses was placed on the surface of the right dorsal striatum of adult weaver mutants. After grafting, animals were tested for methamphetamine-induced circling behaviour. Mutants with DA containing grafts displayed a significant circling bias toward the left, non-grafted side. Mutants without grafts did not display any rotational bias to either side. These results demonstrate that grafted DA containing neurones establish a functional innervation of the weaver striatum and suggest that grafting of neural tissue is a viable approach in restoring function in genetic degenerative disorders of the nigrostriatal system.
韦弗突变小鼠的特征是纹状体多巴胺（DA）减少，这与黑质中DA神经元的逐渐丧失有关。因此，这种突变体为在帕金森病遗传模型中研究移植到纹状体的DA神经元的功能效应提供了机会。将正常胎儿的腹侧中脑组织置于成年韦弗突变体右侧背侧纹状体表面。移植后，对动物进行甲基苯丙胺诱导的转圈行为测试。含有DA移植物的突变体表现出明显向未移植的左侧的转圈偏向。没有移植物的突变体对任何一侧都没有表现出旋转偏向。这些结果表明，移植的含DA神经元建立了对韦弗纹状体的功能性神经支配，并表明神经组织移植是恢复黑质纹状体系统遗传性退行性疾病功能的一种可行方法。
