Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson’s disease is the second commonest age-related neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease and is characterized by progressive degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Our Parkinson’s disease-related research is centered upon the biology of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), the most common genetic cause of the disease. Using cell biological studies and brain tissue from Parkinson's disease patients, we have found that disease mutations lead LRRK2 to activate the FADD-caspase-8 cell death pathway, and we are currently exploring this pathway in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. We are also exploring other potential roles of LRRK2 in the CNS, in an attempt to link the basic biology of this protein to the pattern of cell death seen in the human disease. These studies include chemical and genetic screens to identify novel regulators of LRRK2 function of potential use in the development of novel therapeutic strategies.