Congratulations to Yusuke for his paper on Parkinson's, mitochondrial potential, and the glycolytic pathway

Post by Carsten Hoege

The newest paper from our lab (a collaboration with the Kurzchalia group) is out this month in the open access journal Biology Open.

Toyoda Y, Erkut C, Pan-Montojo F, Boland S, Stewart MP, Müller DJ, Wurst W, Hyman AA, Kurzchalia T. Products of the Parkinson’s disease-related glyoxalase DJ-1, D-lactate and glycolate, support mitochondrial membrane potential and neuronal survivalBiol Open. 2014 Jul 25. pii: BIO20149399.

[MPI-CBG Press Release. Article in the Sächsische Zeitung newspaper.]

DJ-1 fig

This work links the metabolic products of the glyoxalase DJ-1 with mitochondrial health during cellular stress. DJ-1 has previously been linked to the onset of Parkinson’s disease, which is associated with mitochondrial decline in dopaminergic neurons. In this paper, we show that the products of DJ-1 enhance the survival of cultured dopaminergic neurons, indicating that they are a potential therapeutic route for treatment or prevention of Parkinson’s disease.