Eye neurodegeneration mouse model may aid Parkinson’s research

Eye neurodegeneration mouse model may aid Parkinson’s research

Publication date: Aug 07, 2024

Researchers have developed a new mouse model that affects nerve cells in the eye that could help in studying disease mechanisms and treatment approaches in Parkinson’s disease. A hallmark of Parkinson’s disease is the formation of Lewy bodies, abnormal and insoluble protein deposits that build up in nerve cells and cause them to degenerate. VPS35 mutations also have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, so the scientists are planning studies that would use the new mouse model to investigate that neurodegenerative condition. By that time, large protein clumps similar to Lewy bodies could be observed in the eye. The study, -Mutant mice with rod-specific VPS35 deletion exhibit retinal α-synuclein pathology-associated degeneration,” was published in Nature Communications. Microglia, the brain-resident immune cells that help engulf and remove waste products like alpha-synuclein became abnormally activated and moved into the retinal region. One protein, VPS35, helps distribute various molecules to where they’re needed, including sending abnormal proteins off for degradation.

Concepts Keywords
Author Alpha
Ophthalmological Bodies
Parkinsons Developed
Scientists Disease
Vps35 Eye
Lewy
Nerve
Neurodegeneration
Observed
Parkinsons
Pathology
Retina
Synuclein
Vps35

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH death
disease MESH visual impairments
disease MESH Alzheimer’s disease
disease MESH Parkinson’s disease
disease MESH defects
pathway REACTOME Release

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