Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Brain Region-Specific Gene Networks Regulated in Exercise in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease

BACKGROUND: Exercise plays an essential role in improving motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but the underlying mechanism in the central nervous system remains unclear. METHODS: Motor ability was observed after 12-week treadmill exercise on a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mouse model of PD. RNA-sequencing on four brain regions (cerebellum, cortex, substantia nigra (SN), and striatum) from control animals, MPTP-induced PD, and MPTP-induced PD model treated with exercise for 12 weeks were performed. Transcriptional networks on the four regions were further identified by an integrative network biology approach. RESULTS: The 12-week treadmill exercise significantly improved the motor ability of an MPTP-induced mouse model of PD. RNA-seq analysis showed SN and striatum were remarkably different among individual region’s response to exercise in the PD model. Especially, synaptic regulation pathways about axon guidance, synapse assembly, neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, transmitter transport-related pathway, and synaptic regulation genes, including Neurod2, Rtn4rl2, and Cd5, were upregulated in SN and striatum. Lastly, immunofluorescence staining revealed that exercise rescued the loss of TH(+) synapses in the striatal region in PD mice, which validates the key role of synaptic regulation pathways in exercise-induced protective effects in vivo. CONCLUSION: SN and striatum are important brain regions in which critical transcriptional changes, such as in synaptic regulation pathways, occur after the exercise intervention on the PD model.