Angiotensin-(1-7) relieves behavioral defects and α-synuclein expression through NEAT1/miR-153-3p axis in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, whose characteristic pathology involves progressive deficiency of dopaminergic neurons and generation of Lewy bodies (LBs). Aggregated and misfolded α-synuclein (α-syn) is the major constituent of LBs. As the newly discovered pathway of renin-angiotensin system (RAS), Angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)) and receptor Mas have attracted increasing attentions for their correlation with PD, but underlying mechanisms remain not fully clear. Based on above, this study established PD models of mice and primary dopaminergic neurons with AAV-hα-syn(A53T), then discussed the effects of Ang-(1-7)/Mas on α-syn level and neuronal apoptosis for these models combined with downstream long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and microRNA (miRNA). Results showed that Ang-(1-7) alleviated behavioral impairments, rescued dopaminergic neurons loss and lowered α-syn expression in substantia nigra of hα-syn(A53T) overexpressed PD mice. We also discovered that Ang-(1-7) decreased level of α-syn and apoptosis in the hα-syn(A53T) overexpressed dopaminergic neurons through lncRNA NEAT1/miR-153-3p axis. Moreover, miR-153-3p level in peripheral blood is found negatively correlated with that of α-syn. In conclusion, our work not only showed neuroprotective effect and underlying mechanisms for Ang-(1-7) on α-syn <i>in vivo</i> and <i>vitro</i>, but also brought new hope on miR-153-3p and NEAT1 for diagnosis and treatment in PD.