Mechanisms in Parkinson's Disease
Models and Treatments
Contributor(s)
Dushanova, Juliana (editor)
Language
EnglishAbstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) results primarily from the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Current PD medications treat symptoms; none halt or retard dopaminergic neuron degeneration. The main obstacle to developing neuroprotective therapies is a limited understanding of the key molecular mechanisms that provoke neurodegeneration. The discovery of PD genes has led to the hypothesis that misfolding of proteins and dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway are pivotal to PD pathogenesis. Previously implicated culprits in PD neurodegeneration, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress may also act in part by causing the accumulation of misfolded proteins, in addition to producing other deleterious events in dopaminergic neurons. Neurotoxin-based models have been important in elucidating the molecular cascade of cell death in dopaminergic neurons. PD models based on the manipulation of PD genes should prove valuable in elucidating important aspects of the disease, such as selective vulnerability of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons to the degenerative process.
Keywords
Neurology & clinical neurophysiologyDOI
10.5772/1826Webshop link
https://www.intechopen.com/booksISBN
9789533078762, 9789535167419Publisher
IntechOpenPublisher website
https://www.intechopen.com/Publication date and place
2012Imprint
IntechOpenClassification
Neurology and clinical neurophysiology