Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, California 94945, USA.
The murine mutant weaver (gene symbol, wv) mouse, which carries a mutation in the gene encoding the G-protein inwardly rectifying potassium channel Girk2, exhibits a diverse range of defects as a result of postnatal cell death in several different brain neuron subtypes. Loss of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons in the weaver, unlike cerebellar granule neuronal loss, is via a noncaspase-mediated mechanism. Here, we present data demonstrating that degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in weaver is mediated via neuroinflammation. Furthermore, in vivo administration of the anti-inflammatory agent minocycline attenuates nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration. This has novel implications for the use of the weaver mouse as a model for Parkinson's disease, which has been associated with increased neuroinflammation.