April 2005

News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience

Managing Cellular Stress in Worm Dopamine Neurons

Songsong Cao, Christopher C. Gelwix, Kim A. Caldwell, and Guy A. Caldwell

Dopamine neurons appear to be particularly sensitive to cellular stress caused by protein misfolding or oxidative damage. For example, mutant or overexpressed a synuclein causes intracellular inclusions (Lewy bodies) and cell degeneration of dopamine neurons. Such mechanisms are considered central to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. This week, Cao et al. tested the protective ability of the chaperone protein torsinA in dopaminergic neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans.