p53-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction by proteasome inhibition in dopaminergic SH-SY5Y cells.

Decreased proteasome activity is an important pathology in Parkinson's disease (PD), which is related to cell death and Lewy body formation. In this study, we show that p53-activity may correlate with neuronal death via the mitochondrial pathway in PD model. The proteasome inhibitor, MG132, induced the accumulation of p53 in human dopaminergic neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. The increased stabilization of p53 upregulated the level of Bax and mitochondrial depolarization. These events were inhibited by the p53 inhibitor, pifithrin-alpha (PFT). Cell viability analyzes demonstrated that PFT partially prevented MG132-induced cell death. These results suggest that p53 is a candidate as an intermediary between the proteasome system and mitochondria-related neuronal death in PD.