Critical role of calpain in spinal cord degeneration in Parkinson's disease.

ABSTRACT: While multiple molecular mechanisms contribute to midbrain nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD), the mechanism of damage in non-dopaminergic sites within the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, is not well-understood. Thus, to understand the comprehensive pathophysiology underlying this devastating disease, postmortem spinal cord tissue samples (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar segments) from patients with PD were analyzed compared to age-matched normal subjects or Alzheimer's disease for selective molecular markers of neurodegeneration and inflammation. Distal axonal degeneration, relative abundance of both sensory and motor neuron death, selective loss of ChAT(+) motoneurons, reactive astrogliosis, microgliosis, increased cycloxygenase-2 (Cox-2

SUBMITTER: Samantaray S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3859802 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature