Re: The Lewy Body Protien
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:40 am
Hi,
The information on nilotinib is significant. This is a molecule that interferes with tyrosine kinase and is thought to inhibit a protein that interferes with lysosomes. The lysosomes’ function is to destroy proteins that harm the brain. This is very significant because it seems to be targeted at the cause of the disease, and suggests that something is destroying brain proteins in Parkinson’s.
The article on the white blood cells is exciting also. The white blood cells that are altered in Parkinson’s patients are lymphocytes. These are white blood cells that normally destroy foreign antigens. There are T-cell lymphocytes, which help destroy tumors and cells infected by viruses by releasing cytotoxic granules that kill altered cells. Other lymphocytes are called B cells and are responsible for producing antibody in response to stimulation from a foreign antigen . The article does not mention which lymphocytes are altered in Parkinson’s disease.
These authors are collecting lymphocytes from Parkinson’s patients and will try to make cell culture lines that can be grown in the lab and studied. This research could help in understanding the cause of Parkinson’s and would possibly lead to new diagnostic test.
Neither of these papers suggest a science experiment that you could do without a lab. The first paper involves working with patients and the second would require a tissue culture lab. If you are close to the Dana Farber Institute or to Melbourne, Australia, you could contact the authors of these papers and volunteer to help. Otherwise, you may want to do a complete literature search this year and a basic experiment on memory, inflammation, or another topic that is related to LBD/Parkinson’s.
Do you have an idea of what you will be able to do for this year’s project?
Donna
The information on nilotinib is significant. This is a molecule that interferes with tyrosine kinase and is thought to inhibit a protein that interferes with lysosomes. The lysosomes’ function is to destroy proteins that harm the brain. This is very significant because it seems to be targeted at the cause of the disease, and suggests that something is destroying brain proteins in Parkinson’s.
The article on the white blood cells is exciting also. The white blood cells that are altered in Parkinson’s patients are lymphocytes. These are white blood cells that normally destroy foreign antigens. There are T-cell lymphocytes, which help destroy tumors and cells infected by viruses by releasing cytotoxic granules that kill altered cells. Other lymphocytes are called B cells and are responsible for producing antibody in response to stimulation from a foreign antigen . The article does not mention which lymphocytes are altered in Parkinson’s disease.
These authors are collecting lymphocytes from Parkinson’s patients and will try to make cell culture lines that can be grown in the lab and studied. This research could help in understanding the cause of Parkinson’s and would possibly lead to new diagnostic test.
Neither of these papers suggest a science experiment that you could do without a lab. The first paper involves working with patients and the second would require a tissue culture lab. If you are close to the Dana Farber Institute or to Melbourne, Australia, you could contact the authors of these papers and volunteer to help. Otherwise, you may want to do a complete literature search this year and a basic experiment on memory, inflammation, or another topic that is related to LBD/Parkinson’s.
Do you have an idea of what you will be able to do for this year’s project?
Donna