Small molecule inhibitors of α-synuclein oligomers identified by targeting early dopamine-mediated motor impairment in C. elegans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Parkinson's disease is a disabling neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by dopaminergic neuron loss induced by α-synuclein oligomers. There is an urgent need for disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson's disease, but drug discovery is challenged by lack of in vivo models that recapitulate early stages of neurodegeneration. Invertebrate organisms, such as the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, provide in vivo models of human disease processes that can be instrumental for initial pharmacological studies.

Methods

To identify early motor impairment of animals expressing α-synuclein in dopaminergic neurons, we first used a custom-built tracking microscope that captures locomotion of single C. elegans with high spatial and temporal resolution. Next, we

SUBMITTER: Chen KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8588601 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature