@phdthesis{Knorr2024, author = {Knorr, Susanne}, title = {Pathophysiology of early-onset isolated dystonia in a DYT-TOR1A rat model with trauma-induced dystonia-like movements}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-20609}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-206096}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Early-onset torsion dystonia (DYT-TOR1A, DYT1) is an inherited hyperkinetic movement disorder caused by a mutation of the TOR1A gene encoding the torsinA protein. DYT-TOR1A is characterized as a network disorder of the central nervous system (CNS), including predominantly the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop resulting in a severe generalized dystonic phenotype. The pathophysiology of DYTTOR1A is not fully understood. Molecular levels up to large-scale network levels of the CNS are suggested to be affected in the pathophysiology of DYT-TOR1A. The reduced penetrance of 30\% - 40\% indicates a gene-environmental interaction, hypothesized as "second hit". The lack of appropriate and phenotypic DYT-TOR1A animal models encouraged us to verify the "second hit" hypothesis through a unilateral peripheral nerve trauma of the sciatic nerve in a transgenic asymptomatic DYT-TOR1A rat model (∆ETorA), overexpressing the human mutated torsinA protein. In a multiscale approach, this animal model was characterized phenotypically and pathophysiologically. Nerve-injured ∆ETorA rats revealed dystonia-like movements (DLM) with a partially generalized phenotype. A physiomarker of human dystonia, describing increased theta oscillation in the globus pallidus internus (GPi), was found in the entopeduncular nucleus (EP), the rodent equivalent to the human GPi, of nerve-injured ∆ETorA rats. Altered oscillation patterns were also observed in the primary motor cortex. Highfrequency stimulation (HFS) of the EP reduced DLM and modulated altered oscillatory activity in the EP and primary motor cortex in nerve-injured ∆ETorA rats. Moreover, the dopaminergic system in ∆ETorA rats demonstrated a significant increased striatal dopamine release and dopamine turnover. Whole transcriptome analysis revealed differentially expressed genes of the circadian clock and the energy metabolism, thereby pointing towards novel, putative pathways in the pathophysiology of DYTTOR1A dystonia. In summary, peripheral nerve trauma can trigger DLM in genetically predisposed asymptomatic ΔETorA rats leading to neurobiological alteration in the central motor network on multiple levels and thereby supporting the "second hit" hypothesis. This novel symptomatic DYT-TOR1A rat model, based on a DYT-TOR1A genetic background, may prove as a valuable chance for DYT-TOR1A dystonia, to further investigate the pathomechanism in more detail and to establish new treatment strategies.}, subject = {Dystonie}, language = {en} }