Microarray offers clues to Parkinson's disease
Healthcare's CodeLink microarrays, have identified key changes in
gene expression that provide an improved understanding of the
malfunction and death of the neurons controlling movement and
coordination associated with Parkinson's disease.
It is estimated that approximately 1-2 people per 1,000 have Parkinson's, with the incidence increasing to one in 100 over the age of 60.
"This study represents a step forward in the medical community's search for the underlying mechanisms that cause Parkinson's," said Howard Federoff, director of the Center for Aging and Developmental Biology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
"Until now the challenge has been finding a method to identify and track the sequence of molecular events that lead to the development of Parkinson's disease. CodeLink provided us the advantage of detecting gene expression changes previously undetectable."
As a result, he said, the team was able to observe small yet significant changes relating to neuron function, which may shed light on the cause and progression of this devastating disease.
In this preclinical study, researchers administered a neurotoxicant (MPTP), a known inducer of Parkinson's, to the substantia nigra portion of the brain of mice. They then used CodeLink UniSet Mouse I Bioarray and CodeLink Scanning and Expression Analysis software to study the gene expression of MPTP treated genes in this area.
Analysis detected dysregulation of genes in three main areas related to neuron function: cytoskeletal stability and maintenance, synaptic integrity, and the life cycle of the cell and apoptosis, the naturally occurring process of cellular death.
The study of gene expression is increasingly important as it gives researchers clues to the molecular mechanisms involved in many disease processes and can lead to a greater understanding of the nature of disease.
"Our objective with the CodeLink platform is to use the characterisation of disease pathways to develop early stage molecular diagnostics for a range of diseases, including Parkinson's and enable the eventual development of better targeted therapeutics," said Chockalingam Palaniappan, head of R and D, molecular diagnostics for GE Healthcare.
The research is published in the 25 August issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
