Implementing EjtM (European Journal of Translational Myology, Mobility, Medicine) along the silk-road.

Two main novelties will appear in the second 2018 Issue of the European Journal of Translational Myology demonstrating that the journal is vital and in expansion, one novelty is that the journal is implementing its authorship and readership to broader clinical fields from muscle myology and mobility to clinical medicine and surgery. Consequently, the Editorial Board is also expanding to allow a broader expert evaluation of Authors submitted typescripts. The expanded Editorial Board recently evaluated the option to change the name of the journal from Ejtm to EjtM3 (Myology, Mobility, Medicine), in order to expand the original journal title meaning.

Oxidative metabolism of dopamine: a colour reaction from human midbrain analysed by mass spectrometry.

In order to identify the protein responsible for a dopamine peroxidizing activity, previously described in human normal and parkinsonian substantia nigra by our group, we developed non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis conditions, mimicking the characteristic colour in vitro reaction, resulting from cyclic oxidation of dopamine (DA). After separating protein mixtures from human normal midbrain homogenates on two sets of identical native gels, one gel set was subjected to specific activity staining by using DA and hydrogen peroxide. An activity red/orange band appeared in midbrain tissue lanes, similarly to the lane where commercial horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was present as control of peroxidative activity.

A proteomic approach in the study of an animal model of Parkinson's disease.

Background: The aetiology of Parkinson's disease (PD), an age-related disorder characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra (SN) pars compacta, remains unclear. Current treatments, such as administration of L-DOPA, are only symptomatic and do not stop or delay the progressive loss of neurons. In fact, it has been suggested that the dopamine precursor L-DOPA, increases generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to further neuronal damage.

Increased dopamine peroxidation in postmortem Parkinsonian brain.

We have previously reported the presence, in human midbrain, of an enzymatic activity which catalyzes the formation of dopaminochrome from dopamine (DA) and hydrogen peroxide. Here, we report, for the first time, an increased DA peroxidizing activity in the midbrain and basal ganglia of autoptic Parkinsonian brains. The crude activity was determined spectrophotometrically in extracts of paraffin-embedded slices obtained from autopsied brain.