Mitochondrial DNA damage in substantia nigra pars compacta astrocytes exacerbates dopaminergic neuron loss in a 6-hydroxydopamine mouse model of parkinsonism

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the fastest growing neurological disorder with no known cure. Our ability to develop disease-modifying treatments that slow down the loss of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) dopaminergic (DA) neurons is hindered by a dearth of knowledge on roles for non-neuronal elements such as astrocytes during PD pathogenesis. More specifically, the extent to which mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in SNc astrocytes contributes to SNc DA neuron loss during PD remains unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we utilized an adeno-associated virus (AAV) called Mito-PstI that expresses the restriction enzyme PstI as an approach to damage mtDNA in SNc astrocytes and assess the effect of astrocytic mtDNA damage on SNc DA neuron function and viability in mice. Mito-PstI-induced mtDNA damage in SNc astrocytes disrupted mitochondrial morphology, caused increased wrapping of SNc astrocytic processes around SNc DA neurons, and abnormally increased dopamine release by SNc DA neuron axonal terminals within the dorsolateral striatum (DLS). In addition, mice injected with Mito-PstI in the SNc showed increased spontaneous and apomorphine-induced rotations contralateral to the side with SNc Mito-PstI injections. In further experiments, we used a parkinsonian mouse model with low dose 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) injection into the DLS to show that Mito-PstI expression in SNc astrocytes caused a worsening of 6-OHDA-induced spontaneous contralateral rotational behavior, and exacerbated SNc DA neuron loss. These results suggest that mitochondria in SNc astrocytes are not only critical for the function of SNc DA neurons, but are also a new target for developing disease-modifying strategies against PD.