The second part will deal with the recent discovery of tau gene mutations in frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 which demonstrates that tau dysfunction can lead to neurodegeneration.
For example, α-synuclein represses TH not only by inhibiting phosphorylation at Ser40 of TH, but also by stimulating protein phosphatase 2A activity, which decreases dopamine synthesis and leads to parkinsonism.
PINK1 and Parkin, the products of two genes responsible for autosomal recessive Parkinsonian syndromes with early onset, act as a quality control system on the outer mitochondrial membrane to preserve mitochondrial integrity.
Microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) has been associated with several neurodegenerative disorders including forms of parkinsonism and Parkinson disease (PD).
To overcome this problem, we developed a non-invasive intranasal delivery system, chitosan coated niosomes with entrapped pentamidine (inPentasomes), in the attempt to provide a novel pharmacological approach to ameliorate parkinsonism induced by subchronic MPTP administration in C57BL-6 J mice. inPentasomes, prepared by evaporation method was administered daily by intranasal route in subchronic MPTP-intoxicated rodents and resulted in a dose-dependent manner (0.001-0.004 mg/kg) capable for a significant Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH) positive neuronal density rescue in both striatum and substantia nigra of parkinsonian mice.
Two new AREP loci (PARK6 and PARK7) have been recently mapped on chromosome 1p and confirmed in independent datasets, suggesting that both might be frequent.
Our data indicate that olfactory dysfunction is common in PINK1Parkinsonism and consists typically in defective odor identification and discrimination.
Autonomic function was investigated in five affected and five at-risk members of a single kinship of pallidopontonigral degeneration (PPND), which is a progressive syndrome of parkinsonism and frontotemporal dementia resulting from a mutation in the N279Ktau gene on chromosome 17.
Pallido-ponto-nigral degeneration (PPND), caused by an N279K mutation of the MAPT gene, is 1 of a family of disorders collectively referred to as frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17.
The aim of this study was to elucidate whether sensory abnormalities are present and may precede motor symptoms in familial parkinsonism by characterizing sensory function in symptomatic and asymptomatic PINK1 mutation carriers.
Mutations associated with early-onset autosomal recessive parkinsonism have been identified in the Parkin gene, and recently a second gene, PARK6, involved in early-onset recessive parkinsonism was localized on chromosome 1p35-36.
Recently, mutations in the tau gene on chromosome 17 were found causative for autosomal dominantly inherited frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism (FTDP-17).