Effects of minocycline on NO and MPP+ toxicity of
cultured CGN and RMN. (A) Minocycline blocks NO-induced
neuronal death of CGN, but not MPP+-induced neurotoxicity.
CGN were exposed to increasing concentrations of minocycline (0.5–50
μM) for 24 h in the presence of SNP (50 μM, 24 h) or
MPP+ (70 μM, 72 h). Viable and dead CGN were
quantified by using fluorescein diacetate (yellow-green) and propidium
iodide (red) staining as described (22).
(a–f) Representative fields of
CGN were photographed (×100) after double staining in the absence
(a, c, and e) or presence
(b, d, and f) of
minocycline (20 μM). (a and b)
No treatment. (c and d) SNP treatment.
(e and f) MPP+
treatment. (C) Quantification of the effects of
minocycline on MPP+-treated CGN. Values are expressed as a
% of control (untreated) cultures for each concentration of
minocycline. Data represent the mean ± SE (bars) values of
triplicate determinations from a single but representative experiment
repeated three times with similar results (***,
P < 0.001 by one-way ANOVA; N.S., not
significant). (B) Minocycline blocks NO-induced neuronal
death of cultured RMN but not MPP+-induced neurotoxicity.
(a–f) Representative fields of
fetal RMN (20) were photographed (×200) after TH staining (see text
for details). Compare untreated control and minocycline-treated
cultures (a and b) with those exposed to
10 μM SNP (NO) (c) or 10 μM MPP+
(e) plus minocycline (10 μM) (d and
f). Note that minocycline markedly attenuates NO
neurotoxicity (d), but not MPP+
neurotoxicity (f). (D)
Quantification of the effects of minocycline on SNP (10 μM) and
MPP+ (10 μM)-treated fetal rat RMN. TH-positive cells
were counted from photomicrographs like those shown in B
above. Data are from a representative experiment repeated twice with
similar results (***, P <
0.001 compared with NO alone). (E) Minocycline blocks
combined NO/MPP+ toxicity of cultured CGN. Quantification
of the effects of minocycline on both SNP (5 μM) and MPP+
(0.1 μM)-treated CGN. Data are from a representative experiment
repeated three times with similar results [***,
P < 0.001 compared with SNP (5 μM) and
MPP+ (0.1 μM) alone]. (F) Minocycline
blocks MPP+ neurotoxicity in neuron/glia cocultures.
Quantification of the effects of minocycline on MPP+ (1–50
μM)-treated fetal rat RMN/glia cocultures (24). TH-positive cells
were quantified from photomicrographs like those shown in
B above. Note that in the presence of glia higher
concentrations of MPP+ are required to kill dopamine
neurons. Nonetheless, in the presence of glia the neurotoxic effects of
MPP+ are completely blocked by minocycline. Data are from a
representative experiment repeated twice with similar results.
(*, P < 0.05; ***,
P < 0.001 compared with MPP+ alone).