Nicotine-mediated effects in neuronal and mouse models of synucleinopathy

Abstract

Overall, our results showed that nicotine attenuated α-Syn-provoked neuropathology in both models. Moreover, when investigating the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) signaling in nicotine's neuroprotective effects in iPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons, we observed that while α4-specific antagonists reduced the nicotine-induced calcium response, α4 agonists (e.g., AZD1446 and anatabine) mediated similar neuroprotective responses against α-Syn PFF-provoked neurodegeneration. Our results show that nicotine attenuates α-Syn-provoked neuropathology <i>in vivo</i> and in a humanized neuronal model of synucleinopathy and that activation of α4β2 nicotinic receptors might mediate these neuroprotective effects.