Iranian

---

Background: Autophagy is a mechanism disassembling the damaged organelles from the cell. This study attempted to examine the expression of several autophagy-related genes in Parkinson’s disease (PD) rat model. Methods: The male Wistar rats were divided into three groups as control, sham, and lesion. In the latter group, the PD rat model was induced by the injection of 6-hydroxydopamine in the striatum. The behavioral test was conducted one (baseline) and four weeks after the surgery through apomorphine hydrochloride. Then the RT-PCR technique was employed to evaluate the expressions of p62/SQSTM, autophagy-related genes (ATG)5, ATG12, ATG16L1, ATG10, as well as GAPDH and LC3. Results: By injecting apomorphine, the striatal lesion group showed a significant contralateral rotation at fourth week as compared to the baseline. The examination of p62, ATG5, ATG12, ATG16L1, and LC3 expressions using RT-PCR revealed that p62, ATG5, ATG12, LC3, and ATG16L1 were expressed in the substantia nigra of PD rat model, while ATG10 was not expressed. Conclusion: ATG10 expression is necessary for the initiation of autophagy. Thus, these results show that autophagy deregulation occurs in the initiation stages of the process in the rat model of PD.

---

Background: Oligodendrocyte cell death is among the important features of spinal cord injury, which appears within 15 min and occurs intensely for 4 h after injury, in the rat spinal contusion model. Accordingly, the number of oligodendrocytes progressively reduced within 24 h after injury. Administration of oligodendrocyte-like cells (OLCs) into the lesion area is one of the approaches to counterbalance this condition. Methods:  Bone marrow stromal cells were transdifferentiated into neurospheres and then into neural stem cells and later were differentiated into OLCs using triiodothyronine and transplanted into the spinal cord contusion rats. The post-injury functional recovery was explored and compared with the control group using Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan and narrow beam behavioral tests. At the end of 12^th week, spinal cord segments T12-L1 were histomorphologically studied by immunohistochemistry. Results: Motor improvement was more obvious during 2^nd to 4^th weeks and got less prominent during 4^th to 12^th weeks. Histomorphometric findings indicated that cavity formation decreased in epicenter of transplantation area in experimental groups in comparison with the control groups. Conclusion: The findings obtained in the present study showed that OLC therapy is a potential approach in the treatment of spinal cord traumatic injuries.