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Study of the effects of pharmacological upregulation of autophagy on L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia

Urbina Treviño, Lidia (2017) MOBT01 20162
Degree Projects in Molecular Biology
Popular Abstract
Neuronal “self-cleaning” is associated with the side effects caused by Parkinson’s Disease treatment

The treatment of Parkinson’s Disease produces side effects that can reduce the life quality of the patients greatly. Using mice that simulate Parkinson’s Disease, we have studied some of the mechanisms at the basis of these disorders.
Parkinson’s Disease is a frequent disorder where neurons that produce dopamine, a molecule necessary for control of movement, progressively die. That is why patients have problems to perform movements and develop the characteristic tremors. Parkinson’s disease patients are treated with Levodopa, a substance that gets transformed into dopamine in the brain. Levodopa is very effective in the initial phase... (More)
Neuronal “self-cleaning” is associated with the side effects caused by Parkinson’s Disease treatment

The treatment of Parkinson’s Disease produces side effects that can reduce the life quality of the patients greatly. Using mice that simulate Parkinson’s Disease, we have studied some of the mechanisms at the basis of these disorders.
Parkinson’s Disease is a frequent disorder where neurons that produce dopamine, a molecule necessary for control of movement, progressively die. That is why patients have problems to perform movements and develop the characteristic tremors. Parkinson’s disease patients are treated with Levodopa, a substance that gets transformed into dopamine in the brain. Levodopa is very effective in the initial phase of the disease. However, when this treatment is prolonged in time, patients develop uncontrolled movements collectively defined as dyskinesia, which greatly reduce the beneficial effects of the therapy. The mechanisms by which Levodopa produces dyskinesia are not fully known, but it has been related to activation of processes by which cells get rid of excess or damaged proteins.
In this study, we induced Parkinson’s Disease in mice, and treated them with Levodopa. By looking at the animals, we could see the characteristic side effects of the treatment. At the same time, we established a link between dyskinesia and changes occurring in the brain, which indicated that the ability of nerve cells to dispose of excessive proteins is impaired.
Parkinson’s Disease is a frequent condition, and dyskinesia can seriously reduce the life quality of the patients. Therefore, it is important to find out why Levodopa produces this negative response, so that we can develop a better treatment for this disease.

Master’s Degree Project in Molecular Biology
Department of Biology, Lund University
Advisor: Gilberto Fisone
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Urbina Treviño, Lidia
supervisor
organization
course
MOBT01 20162
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
8924784
date added to LUP
2017-09-05 14:45:45
date last changed
2017-09-05 14:45:45
@misc{8924784,
  author       = {{Urbina Treviño, Lidia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Study of the effects of pharmacological upregulation of autophagy on L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}