α-Synuclein-Induced Destabilized BMAL1 mRNA Leads to Circadian Rhythm Disruption in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Circadian dysfunction is a common non-motor symptom in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The potential influence of aggravated α-synuclein (SNCA) on circadian disruption remains unclear. SNCAA53T-overexpressing transgenic mice (SNCAA53T mice) and wild-type (WT) littermates were used in this study. The energy metabolism cage test showed differences in 24-h activity pattern between SNCAA53T and WT mice. When compared with the age-matched littermates, brain and muscle ARNT-like 1 (BMAL1) was downregulated in SNCAA53T mice. BMAL1 was downregulated in PC12 cells overexpressing SNCA. Degradation of BMAL1 protein remained unchanged after overexpression of SNCA, while its mRNA level decreased. miRNA (miR)-155 was upregulated by overexpression of SNCA, and downregulation of BMAL1 was partially reversed by transfection with miR-155 inhibitor. Our findings demonstrated that overexpression of SNCA induced biorhythm disruption and downregulated BMAL1 expression through decreasing stability of BMAL1 mRNA via miR-155.