Fruit fly protein shows protective effect on dopamine-producing neurons




"So people who have a mutation that might render them vulnerable to Parkinson's disease tend to lose dopaminergic neurons," Babcock says. "But why are dopaminergic neurons the ones that are lost? We don't have an answer for why that is."

In trying to answer this question, Babcock and his team focus on why dopamine-producing neurons selectively die in patients with Parkinson's disease.

The team recently identified the fruit fly protein known as Scarlet as a target gene whose function is required to prevent age-dependent loss of dopaminergic neurons in fruit flies, or Drosophila melanogaster. They found that loss of Scarlet activity causes a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, induces locomotor defects, shortens lifespan and functions cell autonomously within dopaminergic neurons. Additionally, they found that this neurodegeneration can be modified by genetically and pharmacologically manipulating levels of metabolites within the kynurenine pathway--a metabolic pathway in cells-- and that Scarlet has a neuroprotective role in a model of Parkinson's disease. These results were recently published and highlighted in The Journal of Cell Science in an article called: "Neurodegeneration and locomotor dysfunction in Drosophila scarlet mutants."

In an interview for the journal's "First Person" section, first author Cunningham says: "When I was looking at the rescue experiment to see if Scarlet was neuroprotective in a Parkinson's disease model I counted the dopaminergic neurons, and, in brain after brain, I saw that they survived."


First author Cunningham shares credit with his mentor and senior author, Professor Babcock. In the article, they discuss the discovery's potential to impact future treatment and prevention of Parkinson's disease.




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