Optimizing Mechanistic Rationale for Parkinson’s Disease Treatment
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Neurobiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 September 2024 | Viewed by 144
Special Issue Editor
Interests: hydroxylase; dopamine; substantia nigra; striatum; nigrostriatal; glutamate; acetylcholine; gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA); locomotor; aging; Parkinson’s disease; animal models
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Viable therapeutic approaches to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms are limited. A major reason for this is that a sound mechanistic rationale is lacking. Major loss of tyrosine hydroxylase and nigrostriatal neurons occurs in PD. The loss of TH may be circumvented for some time by L-DOPA, the product of TH. However, this approach is not disease-modifying, the duration of L-DOPA application is limited in time, and side effects from the extended use of L-DOPA are very common. Other therapies, like GDNF, have produced ambiguous outcomes. Moreover, some studies have revealed that targeting striatal dopamine signaling does not represent an ideal approach given the major loss of axon terminals at disease diagnosis. This Special Issue is a call for papers that provide evidence for new mechanistic angles of therapeutic approaches to treat motor, and related cognitive, impairment in Parkinson’s disease. This includes targeting dopamine signaling in the substantia nigra, non-dopaminergic mechanisms, and evidence that the restoration of major loss of neuron terminals or dopamine signaling in striatum is possible. Also of keen interest are papers addressing the characteristics of animal models that best emulate human PD in terms of nigrostriatal neuron loss, pathology, and timing of motor decline. With the goal to translate mechanistic insights from animal models to the human patient, this collection of studies is expected to reveal viable new angles of helping patients maintain mobility against disease progression.
Prof. Dr. Michael Salvatore
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- substantia nigra
- tyrosine hydroxylase
- growth factors
- neuroprotection
- repurposed drugs
- lifestyle interventions
- dopamine
- models of Parkinson’s disease
