New discoveries place lack of energy at the basis of Parkinsons disease Vanessa Moraïs studied the link between Pink1, mitochondria and Parkinsons disease in fruit-flies and mice with a defective Pink1 gene. These model organisms exhibited symptoms of Parkinsons disease as a result of this defect. She was able to demonstrate that the defect in Pink1 resulted in the so-called Complex I – a protein complex with a crucial role in the energy production of mitochondria – not being phosphorylated adequately, resulting in decreased energy production. When Moraïs and her colleagues ensured correct phosphorylation of Complex I, the Parkinsons symptoms decreased or disappeared in mice and in patient-derived stem cell lines. The scientists thereby demonstrated that the lack of phosphorylation causes Parkinsons disease in patients with a defect Pin1 gene. The work is published in journal Science.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 13:02:03 +0000
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