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Sci. STKE, 25 April 2006
Vol. 2006, Issue 332, p. pe19
[DOI: 10.1126/stke.3322006pe19]

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Dopaminergic Neurons Reduced to Silence by Oxidative Stress: An Early Step in the Death Cascade in Parkinson’s Disease?

Patrick P. Michel1,2,3*, Merle Ruberg1,2, and Etienne Hirsch1,2

1INSERM U679, Experimental Neurology and Therapeutics, 75013 Paris, France.
2Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75013 Paris, France.
3Centre de Recherche Pierre Fabre, 81106 Castres, France.

Abstract: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder that is most often sporadic, but in some cases it can be inherited as a simple Mendelian trait. The most important pathological feature of the disease is the death of brainstem dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, which leads to characteristic motor symptoms. The etiology of PD remains unknown, but mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress may contribute actively to the underlying pathomechanism. New studies suggest that KATP channel activation may represent a downstream effector of these two cellular anomalies.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: ppmichel{at}ccr.jussieu.fr

Citation: P. P. Michel, M. Ruberg, E. Hirsch, Dopaminergic Neurons Reduced to Silence by Oxidative Stress: An Early Step in the Death Cascade in Parkinson’s Disease? Sci. STKE 2006, pe19 (2006).

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