RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Effects of L-DOPA on Gene Expression in the Frontal Cortex of Rats with Unilateral Lesions of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons JF eneuro JO eNeuro FD Society for Neuroscience SP ENEURO.0234-20.2020 DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0234-20.2020 VO 8 IS 1 A1 Radlicka, Anna A1 Kamińska, Kinga A1 Borczyk, Malgorzata A1 Piechota, Marcin A1 Korostyński, Michał A1 Pera, Joanna A1 Lorenc-Koci, Elżbieta A1 Rodriguez Parkitna, Jan YR 2021 UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/8/1/ENEURO.0234-20.2020.abstract AB The development of Parkinson’s disease (PD) causes dysfunction of the frontal cortex, which contributes to the hallmark motor symptoms and is regarded as one of the primary causes of the affective and cognitive impairments observed in PD. Treatment with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) alleviates motor symptoms but has mixed efficacy in restoring normal cognitive functions, which is further complicated by the psychoactive effects of the drug. We investigated how L-DOPA affects gene expression in the frontal cortex in an animal model of unilateral PD. We performed RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of gene expression in the frontal cortex of rats with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced unilateral dopaminergic lesions treated with L-DOPA, for two weeks. The analysis of variance identified 48 genes with a significantly altered transcript abundance after L-DOPA treatment. We also performed a weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), which resulted in the detection of five modules consisting of genes with similar expression patterns. The analyses led to three primary observations. First, the changes in gene expression induced by L-DOPA were bilateral, although only one hemisphere was lesioned. Second, the changes were not restricted to neurons but also appeared to affect immune or endothelial cells. Finally, comparisons with databases of drug-induced gene expression signatures revealed multiple nonspecific effects, indicating that a part of the observed response is a common pattern activated by multiple types of drugs in different target tissues. Taken together, our results identify cellular mechanisms in the frontal cortex that are involved in the response to L-DOPA treatment.