Date: October
5, 2016
Source: Iowa
State University
Summary:
A
protein that may safeguard neurons from the ravages of Parkinson’s disease has
been identified by a team of scientists. Parkinson's disease is a progressive
disorder that takes years to develop. A better understanding of Prokineticin-2
could turn up a means of slowing development of the disease or lead to new
therapies, say the investigators.
This
diagram demonstrates how the neuropeptide Prokineticin-2 (PK2) is rapidly
induced during early stages of neurotoxic stress and secreted into
extracellular spaces. ISU biomedical scientists have published new research
indicating PK2 may act as a protective mechanism that helps neurons cope with
Parkinson’s disease. Credit:
Anumantha Kanthasamy
Recently published research from Iowa State University
may hint at a new treatment for Parkinson's disease.
In a
paper published in the academic journal Nature Communications, ISU scientists
identified a protein called Prokineticin-2 (PK2) that may protect brain cells
and is expressed with greater frequency in the early stages of Parkinson's
disease.
"The
neurons use PK2 to cope with stress. It's an in-built protective
mechanism," said Anumantha Kanthasamy, a Clarence Hartley Covault
Distinguished Professor in veterinary medicine, the Eugene and Linda Lloyd
Endowed Chair of Neurotoxicology, and chair of biomedical sciences at Iowa
State. Kanthasamy, one of the paper's lead authors, has been working to
understand the complex mechanisms of Parkinson's and searching for a cure for
the past two decades.
Prokineticin-2
stimulates the neurons to produce more mitochondria, the part of the cell that
produces energy. The resulting improved energy production helps neurons
withstand the ravages of the disease, which is a neurological disorder that
results in insufficient levels of dopamine in the brain.
Parkinson's
disease is a progressive disorder that takes years to develop. A better
understanding of Prokineticin-2 could turn up a means of slowing development of
the disease or lead to new therapies, Kanthasamy said. For instance, there may
be ways to stimulate more production of the protein or protein analogs to bind
with its receptors on neurons, he said.
The
research team took a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to studying
Parkinson's disease. The study was funded by a grant from the National
Institutes of Health to Kanthasamy and Arthi Kanthasamy, a professor of
biomedical sciences and Anumantha's spouse. Six graduate students in
Kanthasamy's lab also contributed to the study, including co-first authors
Richard Gordon and Matthew Neal, as well as researchers at other institutions.
The
scientists studied cultured brain cells, a rodent model and post-mortem human
brains to track changes brought on by Parkinson's disease, and they confirmed a
high expression of Prokineticin-2 in each facet of the study.
It
was this team effort that resulted in a comprehensive finding, Arthi Kanthasamy
noted.
The
discovery prompted the research team to investigate more thoroughly.
"Of
the thousands and thousands of factors we tracked in our experiments, why was
this protein expressed so highly?" Arthi Kanthasamy said.
Finding
the answer to that question poses a challenge that will take time to overcome,
but the potential appears to be significant, she said.
Story
Source:
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Journal
Reference:
Richard
Gordon, Matthew L. Neal, Jie Luo, Monica R. Langley, Dilshan S. Harischandra,
Nikhil Panicker, Adhithiya Charli, Huajun Jin, Vellareddy Anantharam, Trent M.
Woodruff, Qun-Yong Zhou, Anumantha G. Kanthasamy, Arthi Kanthasamy. Prokineticin-2
upregulation during neuronal injury mediates a compensatory protective response
against dopaminergic neuronal degeneration. Nature Communications, 2016; 7:
12932 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12932
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161005084313.htm
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