Newswise — University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) researchers have discovered a therapeutic target that, when manipulated, may slow the progression of or halt Parkinson's disease, a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that affects an estimated one million people in the U.S.
A team from the Center for Neurodegenerative and Neuroimmunologic Diseases in the Department of Neurology at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School carried out the study. M. Maral Mouradian, M.D., center director and William Dow Lovett Professor of Neurology, was its lead investigator. A paper on their findings, titled "Repression of a-synuclein expression and toxicity by microRNA-7," appears in the July 20 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
In this publication, the investigators report that the small RNA molecule microRNA-7, which is present in neurons, directly represses the expression of a-synuclein, a protein that, in excess, proves deleterious to certain types of brain cells.
"Individuals who have multiple copies of the a-synuclein gene come down with Parkinson's, so inhibitors of a-synuclein expression are attractive therapeutic targets," explained Mouradian. "Our manipulation protects neuronal cells from the toxicity that results from increased levels of this protein."
There is no cure for Parkinson's and there are no neuroprotective treatments as of yet, making this new strategy to manipulate the molecular underpinnings of the disease a significant discovery, Mouradian added.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
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