[Stitcher]

Tiny RNA Snippet May Play a Role in Parkinson's

Genetic "dimmer switches could possibly become a new target in the fight against the neurodegenerative disorder

September 04, 2007
By Nikhil Swaminathan

Image: © SCIENCE
A picture of a midbrain replete with dopamine neurons. Without a certain microRNA, a pattern resembling Swiss cheese would appear in this area as cells became disrupted.

"Dimmer switches" that control the level of protein created from a given gene may regulate the development, function and, ultimately, the life span of cells that begin to vanish from the brain at the onset of Parkinson's disease."

"The finding, published in last week's Science, could offer a new therapeutic target for treating the neurodegenerative disorder—making it one of the first to tie these protein modulators, small snippets of RNA known as microRNAs, to human disease"

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