|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,860
|
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,860
|
Parkinson's disease: return of an old prime suspect
Neuron. 2007 Jul 5;55(1):8-10. Links
Parkinson's disease: return of an old prime suspect.Sulzer D, Schmitz
Y.
Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical School, New York
State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA.
d...@columbia.edu
Pacemaking activity in adult substantia nigra (SN) dopamine neurons
relies on L-type Ca2+ channels, but a surprising study in Nature by
Chan et al. demonstrates that blockade of these channels by
dihydropyridines re-establishes the pacemaking driven by sodium and
HCN channels found in juvenile SN. This shift protects SN neurons in
chemical models of Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting that elevated
intracellular Ca2+ participates in SN cell loss and that
dihydropyridines may provide therapy in PD.
PMID: 17610813 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
(dihydropyridines are calcium channel blocker agents used in cardiovascular diseases, including arrhythmias)
__________________
In the last analysis, we see only what we are ready to see, what we have been taught to see. We eliminate and ignore everything that is not a part of our prejudices.
~ Jean-Martin Charcot
The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed. William Gibson
|