The plasticity of the nigrostriatal system of the mouse brain in a chronic model of Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease with a long period of asymptomatic progress, which occurs due to activation of mechanisms of neuroplasticity that support the degenerating nigrostriatal system of the brain. In the present study, we examined some compensatory mechanisms in the mouse brain for the first time using chronic models of preclinical and early clinical stages of PD that we developed. Using a model of the preclinical stage of PD, we found a compensatory increase in the number of monoenzymatic tyrosine hydroxylase-containing fibers in the striatum, whereas using a model of the early clinical stage of PD, an adaptive decrease in the rate of dopamine reuptake in the substantia nigra was revealed. These mechanisms of neuroplasticity may be considered as targets for the future development of new tools for neuroprotective therapy.