[2017 Round-up] High priority publications on Parkinson's disease in 2017

Understanding how dopaminergic neurons die in Parkinson's disease is crucial to identify which cellular pathways and molecular targets are amenable to therapeutic intervention. Using neurons from patients with Parkinson's disease, Burbulla and colleagues1 identified a toxic cascade of mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction mediated by the accumulation of oxidised dopamine and α-synuclein. However, this pathogenic cascade was not found in mouse models of Parkinson's disease because of species-specific differences in dopamine metabolism that allow the survival of mouse dopaminergic neurons.
Source: Lancet Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: 2017 Round-up Source Type: research