The G2019S mutation in leucine rich-repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is a major cause of familial Parkinson's disease. We previously reported that G2019S knock-in mice manifest dopamine transporter dysfunction and phosphoSerine129 alpha-synuclein (pSer129 alpha-syn ...
The inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA is synthesized by the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) in neurons and in pancreatic β-cells in islets of Langerhans where it functions as a paracrine and autocrine signaling molecule regulating the function of i ...
Short-hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated gene knockdown is a powerful tool for targeted gene silencing and an emerging novel therapeutic strategy. Recent publications, however, reported unexpected toxicity after utilizing viral-mediated shRNA knockdown in vivo. ...
Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons projecting to the striatum. Since the deficit in striatal dopamine is the main cause of PD symptoms, it appears critical to preserve axon termi ...
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects 1% of the population above the age of 60. The cause of the disease remains unknown. The histopathological hallmarks of the disease are intracytoplasmic Lewy bodies and dopami ...
The ability of presynaptic dopamine terminals to tune neurotransmitter release to meet the demands of neuronal activity is critical to neurotransmission. Although vesicle content has been assumed to be static, in vitro data increasingly suggest that cell a ...
Monitoring cells’ Tehavior in-vitro and evaluation of their response to different types of stimulations are the major oTjectives in cell-Tased studies. The results of these studies answer questions on the physiology of the cells, cell-to-cell signaling and ...
Synaptic inhibition plays a key role in shaping the dynamics of neuronal networks and selecting cell assemblies. Typically, an inhibitory axon contacts a particular dendritic subdomain of its target neuron, where it often makes 10–20 synapses, sometimes on ...
Alpha-synuclein is linked to both sporadic and familial forms of Parkinson's disease. The protein represents the major component of Lewy bodies – one of the hallmarks of the disease. Additionally, several point mutations and locus multiplications in the ge ...
