Neuromelanin, aging, and neuronal vulnerability in Parkinson's disease

Functional Genomics of Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease: Focus on Selective Neuronal Vulnerability

Pivotal brain functions, such as neurotransmission, cognition, and memory, decline with advancing age and, especially, in neurodegenerative conditions associated with aging, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Yet, deterioration in structure and function of the nervous system during aging or in AD is not uniform throughout the brain. Selective neuronal vulnerability (SNV) is a general but sometim...

Neuronal Dysfunction in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease

Aging-associated up-regulation of neuronal 5-lipoxygenase expression: putative role in neuronal vulnerability.

Aging is associated with neurodegenerative processes. 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LO), which is also expressed in neurons, is the key enzyme in the synthesis of leukotrienes, inflammatory eicosanoids that are capable of promoting neurodegeneration. We hypothesized that neuronal 5-LO expression can be up-regulated in aging and that this may increase the brain's vulnerability to neurodegeneration. We obser...

Calcium, bioenergetics, and neuronal vulnerability in Parkinson's disease.

The most distinguishing feature of neurons is their capacity for regenerative electrical activity. This activity imposes a significant mitochondrial burden, especially in neurons that are autonomously active, have broad action potentials, and exhibit prominent Ca(2+) entry. Many of the genetic mutations and toxins associated with Parkinson's disease compromise mitochondrial function, providing ...

Neuromelanin MR imaging in Parkinson’s disease

The development and application of neuromelanin sensitive MR imaging has allowed the detection of significant changes in the substantia nigra (SN) of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, with high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating PD patients from non-PD aged controls, even in early disease stages, namely at the time of clinical diagnosis. These MR neuromelanin changes in the SN of P...