A Drosophila model of Parkinson's disease
Article Abstract:
It has been possible to produce transgenic Drosphila fly lines that produce normal human alpha-synuclein and separate lines with each of the two mutant proteins connected with familial Parkinson's disease, A30P and A53T alpha-synuclein. It was found that expression of human alpha-synuclein in flies replicates three key elements of the pathology of Parkinson's disease: adult onset, involvement limited ot the nervous system and anatomical specificity within the nervous system. It will now be possible to delineate underlying pathogenetic mechanisms and identify novel proteins controlling alpha-synuclein toxicity in a genetically tractable organism.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2000
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Dead end for neurodegeneration?
Article Abstract:
Regulated cell death (apoptosis) is crucial for many normal physiological events. Ona and colleagues have studied mice expressing a variant of the huntingtin protein. They crossed the mice with another strain containing a dominant-negative mutation inhibiting the function of caspase-1 and found that the resulting mice developed normally. Gervais and colleagues have extended the potential of caspase inhibition for treating Alzheimer's disease, and developed a provocative model, that caspase activation promotes production of ABeta, which then stimulates apoptosis and activates caspases.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1999
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Parkinson's pathology in a fly
Article Abstract:
It has been possible to develop a model of Parkinson's disease in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster that replicates many of the features of the human disease. The gene encoding human alpha-synuclein (as a 'transgene') was expressed in all Drosphila nerve cells. This produced an age-dependent loss of dopamine-secreting neurons, while other neurons seemed to be mainly unaffected. The development of models for Parkinson's disease in vertebrate and invertebrate animals has created a wide range of investigative opportunities.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2000
User Contributions:
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