Upregulation of striatal proteins that regulate calcium, including calbindin and homer1a, upon chronic therapy with pridopidine, may further contribute to long-term beneficial effects of pridopidine in HD.
We examined mitochondria in preferentially vulnerable striatal calbindin-positive neurons in moderate-to-severe grade HD patients, using antisera against mitochondrial markers of COX2, SOD2 and cytochrome c. Combined calbindin and mitochondrial marker immunofluorescence showed a significant and progressive grade-dependent reduction in the number of mitochondria in spiny striatal neurons, with marked alteration in size.
Comparison of diseased human brain tissue with age- and sex-matched controls yielded significant decreases (60-88%) in calbindin protein and mRNA in the substantia nigra (Parkinson disease), in the corpus striatum (Huntington disease), in the nucleus basalis (Alzheimer disease), and in the hippocampus and nucleus raphe dorsalis (Parkinson, Huntington, and Alzheimer diseases) but not in the cerebellum, neocortex, amygdala, or locus ceruleus.