Abstract Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons within substantia nigra pars compacta and presence protein aggregates in surviving neurons. The LRRK2 G2019S mutation one major determinants familial cases leads to late-onset with pleomorphic pathology, including α-synuclein accumulation deposition inclusions. We demonstrated that phosphorylat...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Most cases are sporadic and its etiology is incompletely understood. However, increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction may be involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. The aim o...

Impairment of the dopaminergic system in the brain induced by dopamine-receptor antagonists or by specific neurotoxin terminal lesions results in motor disturbances in rats. In order to specify further the role of the different dopamine pathways in the brain on motor function, the performance of rats trained in an operant reaction-time task was examined after systemic administration of a dopami...

OBJECTIVES The main characteristic of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is their ability to produce other cell types. Electromagnetic field (EMF) stimulates differentiation of MSCs into other cells. In this study, we investigated whether EMF can effect on the differentiation of MSCs into dopaminergic (DA) neurons. MATERIALS AND METHODS An EMF with a frequency of 50 Hz and two intensities of 40 an...

The role of astrocytes in Parkinson's disease is still not well understood. This work studied the astrocytic response to the dopaminergic denervation. Rats were injected in the lateral ventricles with 6-hydroxydopamine (25μg), inducing a dopaminergic denervation of the striatum not accompanied by non-selective tissue damage. The dopaminergic debris were found within spheroids (free-spheroids) w...

Mitochondria continually undergo fusion and fission, and these dynamic processes play a major role in regulating mitochondrial function. Studies of several genes associated with familial Parkinson's disease (PD) have implicated aberrant mitochondrial dynamics in the disease pathology, but the importance of these processes in dopaminergic neurons remains poorly understood. Because the mitofusins...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a rather common movement disorder as a result of the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons within the substantianigra. Current treatments for PD afford symptomatic relief with no prevention of disease progression. Due to the neuroprotective and anti-apoptotic potential of the isoquinoline alkaloid berberine (BBR), this study was conducted to assess whether BBR pretrea...

Parkinson's disease is frequently associated with gastrointestinal symptoms, mostly represented by constipation and defecatory dysfunctions. This study examined the impact of central dopaminergic denervation, induced by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the medial forebrain bundle, on distal colonic excitatory cholinergic neuromotor activity in rats. Animals were euthanized 4 and 8 w...

Melatonin is synthesized by several tissues besides the pineal gland, and beyond its regulatory effects in light-dark cycle, melatonin is a hormone with neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Melatonin acts as a free-radical scavenger, reducing reactive species and improving mitochondrial homeostasis. Melatonin also regulates the expression of neurotrophins that are inv...

The proposal to replace the lost dopaminergic neurons of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with new ones emerged in the 1970s. This strategy may be anticipated to restore motor functions. However, previous clinical studies using fetal midbrain tissue reported mixed outcomes (for a review, see Bjorklund and Kordower). Promising results were obtained from embryonic stem (ES) cell-based studi...