Sep. 11, 2011 A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has
identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine
can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and
lead to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This discovery offers
new hope for treating those suffering from this devastating
neurodegenerative disease. In a paper being published online
September 8 in Neuron, Gladstone Investigator Anatol Kreitzer,
PhD, identifies how the loss of dopamine alters the wiring of a
small group of brain cells, kicking off a chain of events that
eventually leads to difficulties controlling movement -- a
hallmark of Parkinson's disease. More than a half-million people
suffer from Parkinson's in the United States, including the
boxer Muhammad Ali and the actor Michael J. Fox. "The
development of truly effective and well-tolerated therapies for
Parkinson's has proven difficult," said Lennart Mucke, MD, who
directs neurological disease research at the Gladstone
Institutes, a leading and independent biomedi