Dopamine exacerbates mutant Huntingtin toxicity via oxidative-mediated inhibition of autophagy in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells: beneficial effects of anti-oxidant therapeutics

Neuronal cell death in Huntington’s Disease (HD) is associated with the abnormal expansions of a polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the huntingtin protein (Htt) at the N-terminus that causes the misfolding and aggregation of the mutated protein (mHtt). Autophagy-lysosomal degradation of Htt aggregates may protect the neurons in HD. HD patients eventually manifest parkinsonian-like symptoms, which underlie defects in the dopaminergic system. We hypothesized that dopamine (DA) exacerbates the toxicity in affected neurons by over-inducing an oxidative stress that negatively impinges on the autophagy clearance of mHtt and thus precipitating neuronal cell death. Here we show that the hyper-expression of mutant (> 113/150) polyQ Htt is per se toxic to dopaminergic human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, and that DA exacerbates this toxicity leading to apoptosis and secondary necrosis. DA toxicity is mediated by ROS production (mainly anion superoxide) that elicits a block in the formation of autophagosomes. We found that the pre-incubation with N-Acetyl- L-Cysteine (a quinone reductase inducer) or Deferoxamine (an iron chelator) prevents the generation of ROS, restores the autophagy degradation of mHtt and preserves the cell viability in SH-SY5Y cells expressing the polyQ Htt and exposed to DA. The present findings suggest that DA-induced impairment of autophagy underlies the parkinsonism in HD patients. Our data provide a mechanistic explanation of the DA toxicity in dopaminergic neurons expressing the mHtt and support the use of anti-oxidative stress therapeutics to restore protective autophagy in order to slow down the neurodegeneration in HD patients.