Project description:Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide for which there are only symptomatic therapies. Small molecules able to target key pathological processes in PD have emerged as interesting options for modifying disease progression. We have previously shown that a (poly)phenol-enriched fraction (PEF) of Corema album L. leaf extract modulates central events in PD pathogenesis, namely α-synuclein (αSyn) toxicity, aggregation and clearance. PEF was now subjected to a bio-guided fractionation with the aim of identifying the critical bioactive compound. We identified genipin, an iridoid, which relieves αSyn toxicity and aggregation. Furthermore, genipin promotes metabolic alterations and modulates lipid storage and endocytosis. Importantly, genipin was able to prevent the motor deficits caused by the expression of αSyn-GFP in a Drosophila melanogaster model of PD. These findings open new avenues for the exploitation of genipin for PD therapeutics.
Project description:The process of producing the GRC zebrafish assembly included the high-quality sequencing and finishing of clones representing alternate haplotypes to corresponding regions in the current primary assembly. This project reports the variation between those alternate haplotype clones and the primary assembly.