Authors:
Oliver Cooper, Hyemyung Seo, Shaida Andrabi, Cristina Guardia-Laguarta, John Graziotto, Maria Sundberg, Jesse R. McLean, Luis Carrillo-Reid, Zhong Xie, Teresia Osborn, Gunnar Hargus, Michela Deleidi, Tristan Lawson, Helle Bogetofte, Eduardo Perez-Torres, Lorraine Clark, Carol Moskowitz, Joseph Mazzulli, Li Chen, Laura Volpicelli-Daley, Norma Romero, Houbo Jiang, Ryan J. Uitti, Zhigao Huang, Grzegorz Opala, Leslie A. Scarffe, Valina L. Dawson, Christine Klein, Jian Feng, Owen A. Ross, John Q. Trojanowski, Virginia M.-Y. Lee, Karen Marder, D. James Surmeier, Zbigniew K. Wszolek, Serge Przedborski, Dimitri Krainc, Ted M. Dawson, and Ole Isacson
Summary:
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder caused by genetic and environmental factors that results in degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway in the brain. We analyzed neural cells generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from PD patients and presymptomatic individuals carrying mutations in the PINK1 (PTEN-induced putative kinase 1) and LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) genes, and compared them to those of healthy control subjects. We measured several aspects of mitochondrial responses in the iPSC-derived neural cells including production of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial respiration, proton leakage, and intraneuronal movement of mitochondria. Cellular vulnerability associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in iPSC-derived neural cells from familial PD patients and at-risk individuals could be rescued with coenzyme Q10, rapamycin, or the LRRK2 kinase inhibitor GW5074. Analysis of mitochondrial responses in iPSC-derived neural cells from PD patients carrying different mutations provides insight into convergence of cellular disease mechanisms between different familial forms of PD and highlights the importance of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in this neurodegenerative disease.
Source:
Science Translational Medicine; Vol. 4, Issue 141, 141ra90 (07/04/12)