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Volume 8, Issue 6 J Neurol Neurosci
ISSN: 2171-6625 Neuro, an open access journal Neuroscience 2017
October 16-17, 2017
OCTOBER 16-17, 2017 OSAKA, JAPAN
17TH Global Neuroscience Conference
Fibroblast growth factor 9 suppresses cell death through ERK signaling in Huntington’s disease
Yusuf Issa Olakunle1,2, Pei-Hsun Cheng2, Hsiu-Mei Chen2 and Shang-Hsun Yang1,2
1Academia Sinica, Taiwan
2National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a heritable neurodegenerative disorder characterized by selective and progressive damage
of medium spiny neurons in the striatum and there is no cure for HD to date. A type of Fibroblast Growth Factor
(FGF), FGF9, has been reported to play pro-survival roles, in other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease
and Alzheimer’s disease. With many similarities in the cellular and pathological mechanisms that eventually causes cell death
in neurodegenerative diseases, we hypothesize that FGF9 might provide neuro-protective functions in HD. Here, we used
STHdhQ7/Q7 (WT) and STHdhQ111/Q111 (HD) striatal knock-in cell lines as our models and examined the neuro-protective effects
of FGF9 on HD. Employing MTT and PI staining assays to determine cell proliferation and survival respectively, we found
that FGF9 enhanced cell proliferation and also increased cell survival under a starvation stress condition. In addition, we
observed that FGF9 significantly up-regulated FGF signaling through ERK1/2, Akt, JNK and mTOR pathways and increased
neuro-trophic factor (GDNF) and anti-apoptotic BcL-xL proteins in HD cells. Especially, ERK pathway plays a critical role in
the effects of FGF9 on cell survival and GDNF regulation. These results not only show the neuro-protective effects of FGF9, but
also clarify the critical mechanisms in HD cells, further providing therapeutic potential of FGF9 in HD.
Biography
Yusuf Issa Olakunle is currently pursuing his PhD in Taiwan International Graduate Program (TIGP) Academia Sinica in Neuroscience at National Cheng Kung
University (NCKU). He has completed his BSc degree in Physiology from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria in 2010 and MSc degree in Physiology from the
University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 2014.
Yusuf Issa Olakunle et al., J Neurol Neurosci 2017, 8:6
DOI: 10.21767/2171-6625-C1-005