Bailey King
Professor Mix
Bio 112
3-7-17
Mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease VPS35 is a gene that plays a huge role in the membrane protein-recycling retromer complex. There are three genes that are known to be associated with Parkinson’s disease, SNCA and LRRK2, which are similar to each other, and one that is different. VPS35 is the third gene associated with Parkinson’s disease that causes an increase in the degrading of DML 1 complexes. The authors of this article want to know why mutation of the VPS35 gene leads to neurodegeneration. The researchers used mice for their experiment that housed the VPS35 mutant gene. One of the major results that the researchers found were that the VPS35 mutations associated with Parkinson’s
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The main point of the article was to find out why the VPS35 gene mutation lead to neurodegeneration. In class, we discussed a little bit about the mitochondria and how it’s the powerhouse of the cell, and how that is what really gives us most of our energy currency, but we never covered anything in this much depth about any organelle. The mitochondria has always been my favorite organelle, so being able to really dive deep into the topic of fission within the mitochondria amazes me. Another mind boggling topic is thinking about how many more processes go on within that one organelle that I don’t know about, yet. What I learned about had to do with the fission process. Just imagine how many other processes go on in the mitochondria alone. This article helped me gain a better appreciation for the course material by bringing me back down to Earth a little bit. It’s extremely easy to get caught up with important, or even non-important issues in our lives. However, when you read a scholarly science article that deals with the subject of biology, it exposes one part of a certain world; you allow yourself to calm down a little bit while truly understanding the importance of biology. I gain more and more respect for science and the subject of biology each time I learn something new. This article allowed me to understand how much we, as humans, take for granted. I know that I don’t always treat my body with the respect it deserves and this article has inspired me to try to make a change in myself and give my body, cells, and organelles the respect they
Another cause can be the existence of Lewy bodies in the patients brain. Lewy bodies are bundles of certain substances among brain cells. Within Lewy bodies a protein termed alpha-synuclein is present (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Researchers say that synuclein is an immense factor in Parkinson’s disease. Environmental toxins can also increase the decay of neurons. A few of the toxins that have been associated with Parkinson’s disease consist of carbon disulfide, commonly found in many gases released from the earth’s surface, manganese, found in iron and steel, and carbon monoxide, which is the gas produced by cars (WebMD, 2014). All of these factors lead to patients showing signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
The cause of Parkinson disease, defined by Robert Hauser, who is an author of Medscape, is still unclear. Studies state that there is a combination of environmental and genetic factors for this particular disease. Approximately 10% of cases are currently genetic causes of Parkinson disease. Environmental risk factors such as use of pesticides, living in a rural environment, consumption of well water, exposure to herbicides, and proximity to industrial plants or quarries are commonly associated with the development of Parkinson disease (Hauser, 2016). In addition, according to Hauser, “genetic factors in Parkinson disease appear to be very important when the disease begins at or before age 50 years. In a study of 193 twins, overall concordance for MZ and DZ pairs was similar, but in 16 pairs of twins, in whom Parkinson disease was diagnosed at or before age 50 years, all 4 MZ pairs, but only 2 of 12 DZ pairs, was concordant.The identification of a few families with familial Parkinson disease sparked further interest in the genetics of the disease.
Identified as LRRK2, this gene mutation only accounts for one to two percent of all cases of Parkinson’s disease. (Michael J. Fox Foundation)
The path physiology of Parkinson’s disease is the pathogenesis if Parkinson disease is unknown. Epidemiologic data suggest genetic, viral, and environmental toxins as possible
The discovery from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida shows promising results in tackling down the cause of Parkinson’s, and their outcomes led to a funding by the National Institutional Disorders and Stroke Research (NINDS). Research staff within the campus discovers that many diseases that relate in twisting a protein from its original structure will result in a cellular death but it isn’t due to the deformed shape. According to the article “Scripps Florida Scientists' 'Mad Cow' Discovery” (2015), one primal cause that leads to Parkinson’s is the lack of “NAD+” which later prohibits the proper energy function of the mitochondria. Researchers further delved into the study to find out this is preventable, by providing the misshaped protein
There are hundreds of neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) and the etiology for most of the random conditions remain a universal mystery (Nieoullon 2011). A deterioration of specific functions of the neuron cells of the central nervous system is the most common characteristic of NDD. Neurons are responsible for transmitting essential information to other nerve, muscle and glandular cells (Przedborksi, Jackson-Lewis 2003). Emerging research has recently identified mitochondrial dysfunction as a recurrent elemental link in numerous neurodegenerative disorders (Ghano,
Between 750,000 and 1.5 million individuals in the United States have Parkinson's ailment. Most instances of the condition result from an unpredictable connection of ecological and hereditary components. Caucasian men are 1.5 times more probable than ladies to build up the condition, and its prevalence increments with age. Roughly 5 percent of individuals determined to have PD have a family history of the confusion. Such familial cases can be caused by transformations in five qualities that give critical data about atomic pathways associated with the infection. Changes of the LLRK2, or SNCA quality, in an autosomal predominant example. This implies one duplicate of an adjusted quality in every cell is adequate to cause the confusion. In these
The extreme rarity of a-synuclein mutations the genetic testing for these mutations a research basis when a strong family history of autosomal dominant Parkinson’s disease is present.
According to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF), between 1000 and 4000 children in the United States are born with the disease annually. The disease results from the failure of mitochondria, which are specialized structures in the blood stream that functions to process oxygen and convert nutrients to energy that the body can utilize to sustain life and support growth. Mitochondrial disease is a chronic genetic disorder and there are many forms of the disease, with varying symptoms that tends to affects each sufferer differently. The handful of studies that evaluate the direct effect that marijuana has on mitochondrial disease, largely focuses on its efficacy
Similar to Niemann-Pick type C disease, Parkinson’s disease demonstrates the irregular cholesterol movement and increased levels in neurons. Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, effecting the motor nervous system and people’s abilities to move (3). Lysosomal storage disorders are metabolic, but however share many of the clinical features of Parkinson’s disease such as tremor, bradykinesia, rigidty and cognitive decline (3). They also have a pathogenic overlap, both consisting of lysosomal and mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired autophagy, alterations in lipid metabolism as well as other similar propreties (3). The similarities between the two suggest that their encoding genes may be a carrier of a shared nucleotide variant that could possibly be part of the cause of Lysosome storage diseases as well as the risk of developing Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s disease is affected by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons which is responsible to produce dopamine. Dopaminergic neurons have their cell bodies in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in basal ganglia (O’Sullivan and Schmitz, 2007). Basal ganglia are a collection of interconnected gray matter nuclear masses deep within the brain”. These gray matter masses are caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus and the substantia nigra. Basal ganglia receive its input through striatum (O’Sullivan and Schmitz, 2007).
VPS35 is a gene that plays a huge role in the membrane protein that deals with recycling that is a part of the mitochondria. There are two similar genes in Parkinson’s disease, however, researchers still don’t understand why specifically when the VPS35 mutates it causes neurodegeneration. The researchers used mice
There are some neurological impairments such as Parkinson’s disease especially in people that were in combat, lose control of the movement in their body part. Also, psychological impairments that include depression that may develop within three years of moderate or severe TBI or within 12 month when mild TBI.
The proposed mechanism is that the mutated α-synuclein binds directly to the ER-Golgi SNARE complex inhibiting its assembly (Gitler et al., 2008). Altering vesicle trafficking at any point inside the cell can lead to an accumulation of proteins, which can have severe consequences for dopaminergic neurons. The endocytic pathway is also important in the pathogenesis of Prkinson’s disease. Mutations in the cyclin G associated kinase (GAK) are important for endocytosis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have actually been identified that can be associated with risk factors for sporadic Parkinson’s disease (Nalls et al., 2014). A relationship between one GAK SNPs and increased levels of the protein α-synuclein has been demonstrated on a
at the Society for Neuroscience. Most research on Parkinson 's focuses on cellular mechanisms in