NTU Undergraduates' research April 2014 - Biosciences | страница 80

Predicting Parkinson’s Disease
Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world behind
Alzheimers’s disease (AD). It is most routinely linked with older generations but it is not exclusively a
disease for them, as there are early on-set forms. By the time symptoms are clinically recognisable
approximately 60% of dopaminergic neurons will have died. This results in treatment options being
severely limited. Being able to successfully predict and monitor the progression of the disease would
be a significant advance in the prognosis of the disease. Currently mitochondrial proteins (Dj-1,
Parkin and PTEN induced kinase 1) are leading the way in identifying a specific biomarker, as they
are involved in the maintenance of the mitochondria. The deregulation of mitochondria is known to
increase amount of oxidative stress the cell experiences, which is thought to be a prime mechanism
in the development of Parkinson’s disease. DJ-1 in the plasma of PD patients was found to decrease
in comparison to healthy but this was statistically insignificant. Similarly, the expression of Parkin
and PTEN are also reduced in PD patient. These proteins are found in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)
and are difficult to retrieve from the plasma making them unsuitable biomarkers. The cellular
processes these proteins control are proving difficult to link together and this is hindering them
being used as specific biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease.