New target found to fight, treat Parkinsons
Neuroscientists at the University of Buffalo have described for the first time how rotenone, an environmental toxin linked specifically to Parkinsons disease, selectively destroys the neurons that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential for body movement and muscle control . Microtubules, intracellular highways that dopamine in the brain that controls the transport movements of the body are the ultimate goal, they report. Damage to microtubules prevents dopamine from reaching the brains movement center, causing a backup of neurotransmitters in the transport system, the researchers said.Assurance dopamine accumulates in the body of the neuron and breaks, which destroy a release of toxic free radicals, neurons.The study appears in the August 9 issue of the Journal of
Biological Chemistry. This study shows how an environmental toxin is the survival of dopaminergic neurons targeting microtubules that are essential for the survival of neurons that produce dopamine, said Jian Feng, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology and biophysics at the Medical School and UB Biomedical Sciences and lead author of the study. Based on these results, we have identified several ways to stabilize microtubules against the onslaught of rotenone.These findings may ultimately lead to new therapies for Parkinsons disease.At least 500,000 people have Parkinsons disease in the United States and about 50,000 new cases are reported each year by the National Institutes of Health. These figures are expected to aging of population growth: the average age of onset is
about 60 The disease appears to be a little more common in men than in women. Feng and colleagues at the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, have concentrated their research on the cellular mechanisms of disease.I am particularly interested in understanding why rotenone destroys neurons that produce dopamine, without affecting other neurons that produce neurotransmitters. From cultures of rat neurons, the
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