Parkinson's disease is an intractable neurodegenerative disorder caused by dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the midbrain.  PINK1 and parkin have been known as the genes causing early-onset Parkinson's disease developed under the age of 50.  Several research groups have already reported that these genes collaborate to maintain survivability of dopaminergic neurons using animal models.  However, the detailed molecular mechanism has been unknown.  In this study, it is found out that a newly discovered gene called PGAM5 regulates PINK1 and parkin, and might be associated with the disease.

 The research result has been published online in PLoS Genetics, U.S. scientific journal.  The paper’s title is “The Loss of PGAM5 Suppresses the Mitochondrial Degeneration Caused by Inactivation of PINK1 in Drosophila.”

More Information (Japanese)

[Contact]
Associate Professor Yuzuru Imai
Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University
Address: 4-1 Seiryo-machi Aoba-ku SENDAI, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan
TEL: +81-22-717-8490
E-mail: yimai*idac.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)