Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
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We have identified a new mutant mouse that we have named new mouse neurological mutant 3 (NM3); it may be a useful model to understand the underlying molecular and genetic basis of Parkinson's disease (PD). A mouse carrying the NM3 mutation arose spontaneously in an RIIIS/J breeding colony and was identified as having a movement disorder. Upon neurological examination of these mice, their movement was found to be slow and abnormal, with characteristic choreaform and bradykinetic-type movements, typical of PD. The importance of the gene mutation in NM3 in the molecular pathway involved in this pathology is underscored by the fact that these mice do not survive past weaning age if they are homozygous for the genetic mutation. We localized the gene mutation by positional cloning and genetic mapping to mouse chromosome 2 in an area that corresponds to human chromosome 2q24-31, which does not contain any known genes associated with PD. However, there was a significant decrease of 15-20% in the levels of dopamine, and its principal metabolite, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, in the midbrain of affected mice. Low concentrations of these substances are associated with PD in human patients, making these mutant mice candidates for studies of this disease.
Genet Mol Res 2003 Sep 30
PMID:Genetic, biochemical, and characterization of neurological mutant 3, a new mouse model for Parkinson's disease. 1496 77

Early-onset dystonia is an autosomal dominant movement disorder associated with deletion of a glutamic acid residue in torsinA. We generated four independent lines of transgenic mice by overexpressing human DeltaE-torsinA using a neuron specific enolase promoter. The transgenic mice developed abnormal involuntary movements with dystonic-appearing, self-clasping of limbs, as early as 3 weeks after birth. Animals also showed hyperkinesia and rapid bi-directional circling. Approximately 40% of transgenic mice from each line demonstrated these severe behavioral abnormalities. Neurochemical analyses revealed decreases in striatal dopamine in affected transgenic mice, although levels were increased in those that had no behavioral changes. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated perinuclear inclusions and aggregates that stained positively for ubiquitin, torsinA and lamin, a marker of the nuclear envelope. Inclusions were detected in neurons of the pedunculopontine nucleus and in other brain stem regions in a pattern similar to what has been described in DYT1 patients. This transgenic mouse model demonstrates behavioral and pathologic features similar to patients with early-onset dystonia and may help to better understand the pathophysiology of this disorder and to develop more effective therapies.
Hum Mol Genet 2005 Jan 01
PMID:Transgenic mouse model of early-onset DYT1 dystonia. 1554 49

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by selective loss of dopaminergic neurons and the presence of Lewy bodies. Alpha-synuclein is a major component of Lewy bodies in sporadic PD, and mutations in alpha-synuclein cause autosomal-dominant hereditary PD. Here, we generated A53T mutant alpha-synuclein-inducible PC12 cell lines using the Tet-off regulatory system. Inducing expression of A53T alpha-synuclein in differentiated PC12 cells decreased proteasome activity, increased the intracellular ROS level and caused up to approximately 40% cell death, which was accompanied by mitochondrial cytochrome C release and elevation of caspase-9 and -3 activities. Cell death was partially blocked by cyclosporine A [an inhibitor of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) process], z-VAD (a pan-caspase inhibitor) and inhibitors of caspase-9 and -3 but not by a caspase-8 inhibitor. Furthermore, induction of A53T alpha-synuclein increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and elevated caspase-12 activity. RNA interference to knock down caspase-12 levels or salubrinal (an ER stress inhibitor) partially protected against cell death and further reduced A53T toxicity after treatment with z-VAD. Our results indicate that both ER stress and mitochondrial dysfunction contribute to A53T alpha-synuclein-induced cell death. This study sheds light into the pathogenesis of alpha-synuclein cellular toxicity in PD and provides a cell model for screening PD therapeutic agents.
Hum Mol Genet 2005 Dec 15
PMID:Endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial cell death pathways mediate A53T mutant alpha-synuclein-induced toxicity. 1623 41

1. Parkinson's disease (PD) is considered to be an aging-related neurodegeneration of catecholamine (CA) systems [typically A9 dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra and A6 noradrenaline (NA) neurons in the locus coeruleus]. The main symptom is movement disorder caused by a DA deficiency at the nerve terminals of fibers that project from the substantia nigra to the striatum. Most PD is sporadic (sPD) without any hereditary history. sPD is speculated to be caused by some exogenous or endogenous substances that are neurotoxic toward CA neurons, which toxicity leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and subsequent oxidative stress resulting in the programmed cell death (apoptosis or autophagy) of DA neurons. 2. Recent studies on the causative genes of rare familial PD (fPD) cases, such as alpha-synuclein and parkin, suggest that dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and the resultant accumulation of misfolded proteins and endoplasmic reticulum stress may cause the death of DA neurons. 3. Activated microglia, which accompany an inflammatory process, are present in the nigro-striatum of the PD brain; and they produce protective or toxic substances, such as cytokines, neurotrophins, and reactive oxygen or nitrogen species. These activated microglia may be neuroprotective at first in the initial stage, and later may become neurotoxic owing to toxic change to promote the progression toward the death of CA neurons.4. All of these accumulating evidences on sPD and fPD points to a hypothesis that multiple primary causes of PD may be ultimately linked to a final common signal-transduction pathway leading to programmed cell death, i.e., apoptosis or autophagy, of the CA neurons.
Cell Mol Neurobiol
PMID:Cellular and molecular mechanisms of Parkinson's disease: neurotoxins, causative genes, and inflammatory cytokines. 1682 25

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by a loss of substantia nigra dopamine neurons, and corresponding declines in molecular components present on striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals. These include the alpha6beta2(*) nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which are localized exclusively on dopamine terminals in striatum ((*)denotes the presence of possible additional subunits). In this study, we used a novel alpha-conotoxin MII (alpha-CtxMII) analog E11A to further investigate alpha6beta2(*) nAChR subtypes in mouse, monkey, and human striatum. Receptor competition studies with (125)I-alpha-CtxMII showed that E11A inhibition curves were biphasic, suggesting the presence of two distinct alpha6beta2(*) nAChR subtypes. These include a very high (femtomolar) and a high (picomolar) affinity site, with approximately 40% of the sites in the very high affinity form. It is noteworthy that only the high-affinity form was detected in alpha4 nAChR-null mutant mice. Because (125)I-alpha-CtxMII binds primarily to alpha6alpha4beta2beta3 and alpha6beta2beta3 nAChR subtypes in mouse striatum, these data suggest that the population lost in the alpha4 knockout mice was the alpha6alpha4beta2beta3 subtype. We next investigated the effect of nigrostriatal lesioning on these two striatal alpha6beta2(*) populations in two animal models and in Parkinson's disease. There was a preferential loss of the very high affinity subtype in striatum of mice treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), monkeys treated with MPTP, and patients with Parkinson's disease. These data suggest that dopaminergic terminals expressing the alpha6alpha4beta2beta3 population are selectively vulnerable to nigrostriatal damage. This latter nAChR subtype, identified with alpha-CtxMII E11A, may therefore provide a unique marker for dopaminergic terminals particularly sensitive to nigrostriatal degeneration in Parkinson's disease.
Mol Pharmacol 2007 Jul
PMID:Nigrostriatal damage preferentially decreases a subpopulation of alpha6beta2* nAChRs in mouse, monkey, and Parkinson's disease striatum. 1740 84

Parkinson's disease is the most common movement disorder characterized by dopaminergic dysfunction and degeneration. Loss-of-function mutations in the DJ-1 gene have been linked to autosomal recessive forms of early-onset familial Parkinson's disease. DJ-1 is thought to play roles in protection of cells against oxidative stress and in maintenance of the normal dopaminergic function in the nigrostriatal pathway. Here we investigate the consequence of both DJ-1 inactivation and aging in mice. We found that DJ-1-/- mice at the age of 24-27 months have normal numbers of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and normal levels of dopamine and its major metabolites in the striatum. The number of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus is also unchanged in DJ-1-/- mice. Moreover, there is no accumulation of oxidative damage or inclusion bodies in aged DJ-1-/- brains. Together, these results indicate that loss of DJ-1 function alone is insufficient to cause nigral degeneration and oxidative damage in the life span of mice.
Mol Neurodegener 2007 May 29
PMID:Absence of dopaminergic neuronal degeneration and oxidative damage in aged DJ-1-deficient mice. 1753 35

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by a profound and selective loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. Clinical manifestations of this complex disease include motor impairments involving resting tremor, bradykinesia, postural instability, gait difficulty and rigidity. Current medications only provide symptomatic relief and fail to halt the death of dopaminergic neurons. A major hurdle in development of neuroprotective therapies are due to limited understanding of disease processes leading to death of dopaminergic neurons. While the etiology of dopaminergic neuronal demise is elusive, a combination of genetic susceptibilities and environmental factors seems to play a critical role. The majority of PD cases are sporadic however, the discovery of genes linked to rare familial forms of disease (encoding alpha-synuclein, parkin, DJ-1, PINK-1 and LRRK2) and studies from experimental animal models has provided crucial insights into molecular mechanisms in disease pathogenesis and identified probable targets for therapeutic intervention. Recent findings implicate mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative damage, abnormal protein accumulation and protein phosphorylation as key molecular mechanisms compromising dopamine neuronal function and survival as the underlying cause of pathogenesis in both sporadic and familial PD. In this review we provide an overview of the most relevant findings made by the PD research community in the last year and discuss how these significant findings improved our understanding of events leading to nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration, and identification of potential cell survival pathways that could serve as targets for neuroprotective therapies in preventing this disabling neurological illness.
Hum Mol Genet 2007 Oct 15
PMID:Parkinson's disease. 1791 Nov 61

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder of high prevalence in the elderly. It is characterized by a loss of dopaminergic neurons and the presence of intracytoplasmic inclusions named Lewy bodies. To date six familial PD-associated proteins have been identified so far. Some of them are implicated in the development of either autosomal dominant (alpha-synuclein and LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2/dardarin) or early-onset recessive (parkin, DJ-1, PINK1 (PTEN-induced kinase-1) and ATP13A2) PD forms. A number of genetic studies have shown that 50% of the recessive forms are linked to mutations on parkin gene, followed by PINK1 (8-15%) and DJ-1 (1%). The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the emerging data on the cellular and molecular biology of DJ-1. DJ-1 is a ubiquitous protein that was first described as an oncogene. Nevertheless, after its association to monogenic PD a number considerable data aiming at understanding its implication in the physiopathology of PD was produced. This review will describe the main advances concerning the function of DJ-1. A considerable progress that was only possible due to a better understanding of DJ-1 structure, genetics, distribution and development of in vivo models. All these points along with the description of recent data showing the interaction of DJ-1 with other PD-associated proteins will be given.
Curr Mol Med 2007 Nov
PMID:DJ-1: a newcomer in Parkinson's disease pathology. 1804 43

Most cases of the dominantly inherited movement disorder, early onset torsion dystonia (DYT1) are caused by a mutant form of torsinA lacking a glutamic acid residue in the C-terminal region (torsinADeltaE). TorsinA is an AAA+ protein located predominantly in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and nuclear envelope apparently involved in membrane structure/movement and processing of proteins through the secretory pathway. A reporter protein Gaussia luciferase (Gluc) shows a reduced rate of secretion in primary fibroblasts from DYT1 patients expressing endogenous levels of torsinA and torsinADeltaE when compared with control fibroblasts expressing only torsinA. In this study, small interfering RNA (siRNA) oligonucleotides were identified, which downregulate the levels of torsinA or torsinADeltaE mRNA and protein by over 65% following transfection. Transfection of siRNA for torsinA message in control fibroblasts expressing Gluc reduced levels of luciferase secretion compared with the same cells non-transfected or transfected with a non-specific siRNA. Transfection of siRNA selectively inhibiting torsinADeltaE message in DYT fibroblasts increased luciferase secretion when compared with cells non-transfected or transfected with a non-specific siRNA. Further, transduction of DYT1 cells with a lentivirus vector expressing torsinA, but not torsinB, also increased secretion. These studies are consistent with a role for torsinA as an ER chaperone affecting processing of proteins through the secretory pathway and indicate that torsinADeltaE acts to inhibit this torsinA activity. The ability of allele-specific siRNA for torsinADeltaE to normalize secretory function in DYT1 patient cells supports its potential role as a therapeutic agent in early onset torsion dystonia.
Hum Mol Genet 2008 May 15
PMID:siRNA knock-down of mutant torsinA restores processing through secretory pathway in DYT1 dystonia cells. 1825 38

We describe a unique presentation of autosomal recessive (AR) GTP cyclohydrolase I (GTPCH) deficiency, with severe CNS involvement but without hyperphenylalaninemia. A male infant presented with progressive spasticity, dystonia and oculogyric episodes. Blood phenylalanine levels were persistently normal: whereas an oral phenylalanine loading test revealed impaired phenylalanine clearance. CSF neopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)) were low, homovanillic acid marginally low and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid normal. Fibroblasts showed decreased GTPCH enzyme activity. A homozygous novel mutation of GCH1, p.V206A, was identified. On treatment (BH(4), L-Dopa/Carbidopa and 5-hydroxytryptophan), motor development improved. Mutational analysis provided neonatal diagnosis of a younger brother who, after 18 months on treatment, shows normal development. AR GTPCH I deficiency can present without hyperphenylalaninemia and with normal or subtle CSF neurotransmitter profiles. Testing for GTPCH deficiency should be considered for patients with unexplained neurological symptoms and extrapyramidal movement disorder.
Mol Genet Metab 2008 May
PMID:Autosomal recessive GTP cyclohydrolase I deficiency without hyperphenylalaninemia: evidence of a phenotypic continuum between dominant and recessive forms. 1827 79


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