Therapeutic Potential of a Prolyl Hydroxylase Inhibitor FG-4592 for Parkinson’s Diseases in Vitro and in Vivo: Regulation of Redox Biology and Mitochondrial Function

As the main transcription factor that regulates the cellular responses to hypoxia, Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). HIF-1α is normally degraded through ubiquitination after hydroxylation by prolyl hydroxylases (PHD). Emerging evidence has suggested that HIF PHD inhibitors (HIF-PHI) may have neuroprotective effects on PD through increasing HIF-1α levels. However, the therapeutic benefit of HIF-PHI for PD remains poorly explored due to the lack of proper clinical compounds and understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this study, we examined the therapeutic benefit of a new HIF-PHI, FG-4592, which is currently in phase 3 clinical trials to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in PD models. FG-4592 attenuates MPP(+) -induced apoptosis and loss of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in SH-SY5Y cells. Pretreatment with FG-4592 mitigates MPP(+)-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR), production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ATP. Furthermore, FG-4592 counterbalances the oxidative stress through up-regulating nuclear factor erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf-2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2). FG-4592 treatment also induces the expression of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) through increasing the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). In MPTP-treated mice, FG-4592 protects against MPTP-induced loss of TH-positive neurons of substantia nigra and attenuates behavioral impairments. Collectively, our study demonstrates that FG-4592 is a promising therapeutic strategy for PD through improving the mitochondrial function under oxidative stress.