Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting 1% of the population over 65 years of age. The most characteristic histopathological effect of this disease is the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the appearance of intracytoplasmic protein aggregates called Lewy bodies, with alpha-synuclein being the most abundant protein in these aggregates. Recent studies have shown that in Parkinson's disease, as in most human neurodegenerative diseases, the Golgi apparatus is fragmented and dispersed as a consequence of alterations in intracellular trafficking. Our research group has extensive experience in the morphofunctional analysis of intracellular transport both in basic aspects and in the development of the nervous system and in pathological conditions. In this line of research we have worked with cellular models of the disease, human necropsy samples and a hemiparkinsonian rat animal model. The main objective of our line of research is the analysis of the cytopathological mechanisms involved in the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus and in the alterations of intracellular traffic in the dopaminergic neurons affected in this disease by means of high-resolution morphological techniques supported by biochemical and molecular biology techniques.
- To study the cytopathological mechanisms involved in intracellular trafficking alterations in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of human donors with Parkinson's disease, in a cellular model and in the substantia nigra of an animal model of Parkinson's disease.
- To analyse the cytopathological mechanisms involved in intracellular trafficking alterations in dopaminergic neurons of the enteric nervous system using colon samples from an animal model of Parkinson's disease.
- To study the cellular and molecular bases of the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus in neurodegeneration and to analyse the alterations in the cytoarchitecture of the Golgi apparatus using high-resolution morphological techniques and ultrastructural studies.
- To relate the quantitative changes of proteins involved in membrane trafficking in neurodegenerative processes with the study of their localisation at the ultrastructural level using cryo-immunocytochemistry by electron microscopy.
- Intracellular Trafficking in Parkinson's Disease
The main objective of our line of research is the analysis of the cytopathological mechanisms involved in the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus and in the alterations of intracellular trafficking in dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease.
- Study of the Enteric Nervous System in Parkinson's Disease
Recent studies have shown the presence of Lewy bodies within the enteric nervous system (ENS). Early onset gastrointestinal symptomatology prior to motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease has recently raised the possibility that lesions in the ENS may develop early in the course of the disease, prior to the appearance of cytopathology in the substantia nigra neurons, and thus the study of the ENS may help to understand the cytopathology of Parkinson's disease. These data and the ease of obtaining samples from patients by routine colonic biopsies have led to the use of the SNE as a study model in our line of research. Our main objective is to study the dopaminergic neurons of Meissner's and Auerbach's plexuses from both proximal and distal colon samples from a Parkinsonian rat model. The studies are carried out by means of high-resolution morphological analyses.
Partners
- Mireia Cara Esteban - Universitat de València
- Mª Pilar Marín Muela - Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Fe
(Valencia) - Emma Martínez Alonso - Universidad de Murcia
- Jose Angel Martinez Menarguez - Universidad de Murcia
Blasco Ibáñez Campus
Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 15
46010 València (Valencia)
