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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – ATLANTA – A protein in mitochondria –– the miniature power plants of cells –– may be an early step in the development of Parkinson’s disease, scientists have discovered.
The results of their research are published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
For the last several years, neurologists have been probing a connection between Parkinson’s disease and problems with mitochondria. Toxins that mimic Parkinson’s effects act specifically to poison mitochondria, and mitochondria appear to be damaged in the brain cells that are endangered in the disease. But one unresolved question has been: are mitochondria simply the vulnerable “canaries in the coal mine” or is their deterioration a key step on the way to neurodegeneration?
Now researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have found that a protein called MEF2D, which helps brain cells withstand stress and toxins, also plays an unexpected role inside mitochondria. MEF2D’s ability to keep mitochondria well tuned appears to be especially sensitive to impairment in Parkinson’s disease, the research team found.
“Our data suggest that problems with MEF2D in mitochondria could represent one of the earlier steps in the progress of the disease,” says senior author Zixu Mao, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and neurology at Emory University School of Medicine. Postdoctoral researcher Hua She, PhD, was the first author.
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