Parkinsonian Power Failure: Neuron Degeneration May Be Caused by a Cellular Energy Sy

[charityfundraiser]

One would think that CFS researchers should spend a lot more resources looking at mitochondria....

Damaged cell powerhouses linked to Parkinson's
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101006/full/news.2010.518.html

A widely used pesticide called rotenone produces similar symptoms in rats, and also interferes with mitochondrial electron transport.

Parkinsonian Power Failure: Neuron Degeneration May Be Caused by a Cellular Energy System Breakdown
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=parkinsons-mitochondria

Their analyses suggest that underexpression of 10 specific gene setsgroups of genes that encode the same biological pathway or processare consistently associated with Parkinson's. These 10 sets encode proteins responsible for four related bioenergetic processes: nuclear-encoded mitochondrial electron transport (the key energy-extracting operation), mitochondrial biogenesis (by which new mitochondria are formed) as well as glucose utilization and glucose sensing (processes by which glucose levels are evaluated and modified).

"The most exciting result is the discovery of PGC1-alpha as potential new target of therapy for early intervention Scherzer," says. "It's a master switch that turns on hundreds of genes necessary to build the powerhouse machinery of the cell."

 

[Enid]

Yes this Dr Myhill's approach isn't it - mitochondria damage - very much involved in ME from her research. One gets the feeling as research continues and more is understood benefits will come for other related neuroimmune diseases.

 

[August59]

Rotenone was been used as "rat poison" a few years back. I'm pretty sure rotenone (or something very similar) is found naturally in the environment. I'm going to check on this, but I think it (in some form) occurs in apple seeds and the outer shell of "green" hickory nuts, scalybark nuts and walnuts.