The clinical motor features of Parkinson’s disease (PD) arise from loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigral region of the brain. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this neuronal loss are currently unknown. As a result, no effective treatments exist that address neurodegeneration in PD. My lab’s interest is in understanding the contributions of stem cell activity, autophagy dysfunction, and heightened inflammatory response to neuronal loss in PD so that targeted therapies can be developed.
This is an image of mouse dopaminergic neurons. The neurons were visualized by using antibodies against an enzyme required for dopamine synthesis (tyrosine hydroxylase) and a substrate that turns brown when coming into contact with these special antibodies.
My lab's website is: http://bradmorrison76.wixsite.com/the-morrison-lab