Back and to the Future: From Neurotoxin-Induced to Human Parkinson's Disease Models.

Back and to the Future: From Neurotoxin-Induced to Human Parkinson's Disease Models. Curr Protoc Neurosci. 2020 Mar;91(1):e88 Authors: Airavaara M, Parkkinen I, Konovalova J, Albert K, Chmielarz P, Domanskyi A Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor symptoms such as tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity, and postural instability, as well as non-motor features like sleep disturbances, loss of ability to smell, depression, constipation, and pain. Motor symptoms are caused by depletion of dopamine in the striatum due to the progressive loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Approximately 10% of PD cases are familial arising from genetic mutations in α-synuclein, LRRK2, DJ-1, PINK1, parkin, and several other proteins. The majority of PD cases are, however, idiopathic, i.e., having no clear etiology. PD is characterized by progressive accumulation of insoluble inclusions, known as Lewy bodies, mostly composed of α-synuclein and membrane components. The cause of PD is currently attributed to cellular proteostasis deregulation and mitochondrial dysfunction, which are likely interdependent. In addition, neuroinflammation is present in brains of PD patients, but whether it is the cause or consequence of neurodegeneration remains to be studied. Rodents do not develop PD or PD-like motor symptoms spontaneously; however, neurotoxins, genetic mutations, vira...
Source: Current Protocols in Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Curr Protoc Neurosci Source Type: research