SOURCE: Medical Devices & Surgical Technology Week via NewsRx.com &
NewsRx.net
October 24, 2004, p.285
HEADLINE: PARKINSON DISEASE;
Discovery of gene-expression changes leads to advancement in Parkinson
research
According to a recent article, researchers at the University of
Rochester
Medical Center, using GE Healthcare's CodeLink microarrays, have
identified key
changes in gene expression that provide an improved understanding of the
malfunction and death of the neurons controlling movement and
coordination
associated with Parkinson Disease.
"This study represents a step forward in the medical community's
search for
the underlying mechanisms that cause Parkinson's," said Dr. Howard J.
Federoff,
director of the Center for Aging and Developmental Biology at the
University of
Rochester Medical Center.
"Until now the challenge has been finding a method to identify and
track the
sequence of molecular events that lead to the development of Parkinson's
Disease. CodeLink provided us the advantage of detecting gene-expression
changes
previously undetectable. As a result, we were able to observe small yet
significant changes relating to neuron function, which may shed light on
the
cause and progression of this devastating disease."
The report appeared in the August 25, 2004 issue of The Journal of
Neuroscience.
In this preclinical study, researchers administered a neurotoxicant
(MPTP),
a known inducer of Parkinson, and then used CodeLink UniSet Mouse I
Bioarray and
CodeLink Scanning and Expression Analysis software to study the gene
expression
of MPTP-treated genes in the substantia nigra portion of the brain.
Analysis
detected dysregulation of genes in three main areas related to neuron
function:
cytoskeletal stability and maintenance, synaptic integrity, and the life
cycle
of the cell and apoptosis, the naturally occurring process of cellular
death.
"The study of gene expression is increasingly important as it gives
researchers clues to the molecular mechanisms involved in many disease
processes
and can lead to a greater understanding of the nature of disease. Our
objective
with the CodeLink platform is to use the characterization of disease
pathways to
develop early stage molecular diagnostics for a range of diseases,
including
Parkinson's, and enable the eventual development of better targeted
therapeutics," said Chockalingam Palaniappan, head of R & D, molecular
diagnostics for GE Healthcare.
This article was prepared by Medical Devices & Surgical Technology
Week
editors from staff and other reports.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
