Molecular chaperones as rational drug targets for Parkinson's disease therapeutics.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative movement disorder that is caused, in part, by the loss of dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra pars compacta of the basal ganglia. The presence of intracellular protein aggregates, known as Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, within the surviving nigral neurons is the defining neuropathological feature of the disease. Accordingly, the identification of specific genes mutated in families with Parkinson's disease and of genetic susceptibility variants for idiopathic Parkinson's disease has implicated abnormalities in proteostasis, or the handling and elimination of misfolded proteins, in the pathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disorder.

Environmental enrichment reduces neuronal intranuclear inclusion load but has no effect on messenger RNA expression in a mouse model of Huntington disease.

Huntington disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with no effective treatment. In the R6/1 mouse model of HD, environmental enrichment delays the neurologic phenotype onset and prevents cerebral volume loss by unknown molecular mechanisms. We examined the effects of environmental enrichment on well-characterized neuropathological parameters in a mouse model of HD.

The Alzheimer's disease-associated amyloid beta-protein is an antimicrobial peptide.

Background: The amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) is believed to be the key mediator of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Abeta is most often characterized as an incidental catabolic byproduct that lacks a normal physiological role. However, Abeta has been shown to be a specific ligand for a number of different receptors and other molecules, transported by complex trafficking pathways, modulated in response to a variety of environmental stressors, and able to induce pro-inflammatory activities.

Genome-wide association analysis reveals putative Alzheimer's disease susceptibility loci in addition to APOE.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a genetically complex and heterogeneous disorder. To date four genes have been established to either cause early-onset autosomal-dominant AD (APP, PSEN1, and PSEN2(1-4)) or to increase susceptibility for late-onset AD (APOE5). However, the heritability of late-onset AD is as high as 80%, (6) and much of the phenotypic variance remains unexplained to date.

Therapeutic application of histone deacetylase inhibitors for central nervous system disorders.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs)--enzymes that affect the acetylation status of histones and other important cellular proteins--have been recognized as potentially useful therapeutic targets for a broad range of human disorders. Pharmacological manipulations using small-molecule HDAC inhibitors--which may restore transcriptional balance to neurons, modulate cytoskeletal function, affect immune responses and enhance protein degradation pathways--have been beneficial in various experimental models of brain diseases. Although mounting data predict a therapeutic benefit for HDAC-based therapy, drug discovery and development of clinical candidates face significant challenges.

Analysis of a genetic defect in the TATA box of the SOD1 gene in a patient with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

We report a patient with autosomal-dominant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a sequence variation in the SOD1 promoter region, located in the conserved TATA box motif (TATAAA-->TGTAAA). Functional promoter studies of this variant in an in vitro system showed moderate reduction in transcriptional activity of SOD1. This variant was present in only two of 301 individuals with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was not detected in 396 matched controls, and was recently reported in dbSNP (rs7277748).

Coordinated expression of caspase 8, 3 and 7 mRNA in temporal cortex of Alzheimer disease: relationship to formic acid extractable abeta42 levels.

Recent studies support the hypothesis that Alzheimer disease (AD)-associated amyloid-beta protein (Abeta) may induce apoptosis mediated by a caspase cascade. To assess whether mRNA levels of caspase-3, 7, 8 and 9 change in AD brain, and whether these changes correlate with neurofibrillary tangles, Abeta40 or Abeta42 protein levels or senile plaques, 25 AD and 21 non-demented control brains were examined. Elevated mRNA levels of caspases-7 and 8 measured by a quantitative PCR method were observed in the AD temporal neocortex as compared to the control brains.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-associated SOD1 mutant proteins bind and aggregate with Bcl-2 in spinal cord mitochondria.

Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-linked mutations in the copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene cause motor neuron death in about 3% of ALS cases. While the wild-type (wt) protein is anti-apoptotic, mutant SOD1 promotes apoptosis. We now demonstrate that both wt and mutant SOD1 bind the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, providing evidence of a direct link between SOD1 and an apoptotic pathway.

Chromatin immunoprecipitation technique for study of transcriptional dysregulation in intact mouse brain.

Transcriptional dysregulation has emerged as an important pathologic mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease (HD). The control of transcription depends on appropriate binding of transcription factor proteins to specific promoter regions of genes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a technique that has been used to study the association of transcription factors with DNA.

Neurotransmitter receptor analysis in transgenic mouse models.

One of the characteristic findings in human Huntington's disease (HD) is the alteration of neurotransmitter receptors. To a remarkable degree, transgenic HD mouse models recapitulate neurotransmitter receptor alterations. Neurotransmitter receptors can be assessed at the protein level by using receptor-binding autoradiography.

Mechanisms of Abeta clearance and catabolism.

Mutations that result in an increased generation of amyloid beta peptide (Abeta) account for less than 5% of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Data suggesting that late onset AD risk factors play a role in Abeta turnover in the brain have shifted some of the research focus to the study of Abeta clearance and degradation and the impact of these processes on the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This review will examine the data obtained from studies performed in knockout and transgenic mice on the proteases; the cells and the physiological mechanisms that play a part in the removal of Abeta from the brain.