Test 4 - Neurodegeneration Flashcards
What are signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease?
- tremor
- bradykinesia (slow movement/speech)
- muscle rigidity
- postural instability
What are the misfolded proteins that are proposed as a part of the Parkinson’s disease development mechanism?
- alpha-synuclein
- LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2)
How is the mitochondria possibly involved in Parkins’s Disease development?
mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms (SNPs) and environmental toxins can lead to the damage and dysfunction of mitochondria which can lead to alpha-synuclein build-up in Lewy bodies and Parkin build-up in the substantial nigera
What dopamine-producing area of the brain is mostly involved in whether Parkinson’s happens?
substantia nigera
What happens in the substantia nigera someone develops Parkinson’s?
The substantia nigera stops outputting dopamine to the striatum (in charge of fine motor tuning which leads to tremors) and stops glutamate output to the hippocampus which leads to a loss of memory
How does the substantia nigera lead to the symptoms of Parknson’s disease?
decrease in the activity of the striatum (due to the decrease of dopamine output from substantia nigera) leads to a decrease in output to the globus pallidus therefore the GP puts out more GABA to the brainstem (increased activity of the GP inhibits thalamus and hyperpolarizes sensory information decrease to the cortex)
Explain how loss of cellular communication can come about in Alzheimer’s disease using cytoskeleton terms…
Intracellular neurofibrillary (Tau) tangles from the hyperphosphorylation of Tau causes it not to bind to microtubules which leads to microtubule tangles and dynein and kinesis can’t traffic which causes cell to lose communication (brain volume loss from cell death- lack of communication - starts at cortex and works inward)
What protein was theorized to aggregate and leads to Alzheimer’s?
amyloid beta protein plaques aggregating
