Research Interests
Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with no known cure and affects approximately 1% of the elderly population. The underlying neuropathology is the relatively selective loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in the substantial nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Although the pathogenesis of PD has been the subject of intensive research, the etiology of the loss of nigral neurons in PD remains largely unknown.
Our laboratory research interests include:
- Investigation of the role of the iron transporter, DMT1 in a cellular model of PD and in a transgenic mouse model;
- Examination of the synergistic effects of iron-overload and mutant
α-synuclein toxicity;
- Assessment of cell death and neuroprotection mechanisms in in-vitro and in-vivo models of iron overload via DMT1;
- Determination of functional changes in DMT1 arising from post-translational modifications of the transporter.