Differential sensitivity of immature and mature ventral mesencephalic neurons to rotenone induced neurotoxicity in vitro

• Immature and mature VM neurons were differentially sensitive to rotenone toxicity in vitro.
• Rotenone induces Parkinsonian conditions only in mature VM neurons.
• Curcumin serves as a neuroprotective agent in mature VM neurons by reducing ROS levels.

Rotenone induced neuronal toxicity in ventral mesencephalic (VM) dopaminergic (DA) neurons in culture is widely accepted as an important model for the investigation of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, little is known about developmental stage dependent toxic effects of rotenone on VM neurons in vitro. The objective of present study is to investigate the effect of rotenone on developing VM neurons at immature versus mature stages. Primary VM neurons were cultured in the absence of glial cells. Exposure of VM neurons to rotenone for 2 days induced cell death in both immature and mature neurons in a concentration-dependent manner, but to a greater extent in mature neurons. While rotenone-treated mature VM neurons showed α-synuclein aggregation and sensitivity to DA neurons, immature VM neurons exhibited only DA neuronal sensitivity but not α-synuclein aggregation. In addition, on rotenone treatment, enhancement of caspase-3 activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were higher in mature VM neurons than in immature neurons. These results suggest that even though both mature and immature VM neurons are sensitive to rotenone, their manifestations differ from each other, with only mature VM neurons exhibiting Parkinsonian conditions.