Explore the Early Changes of Parkinson's Disease Through Neuronal Networks

Several neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by a specific patterned spread of proteinopathy (abnormal accumulation of proteins). These aggregates of protein are vulnerable to neuronal functions.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is primarily characterized by the formation of misfolded forms of α-synuclein proteins that accumulates to form a pathological hallmark of Lewy bodies inclusions and Lewy neuritis. This starts at very early time points in disease development, even before clear behavioral symptoms of dysfunction arise as per a study published in American Physiological Society (APS).

‘Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease (PD) are characterized by a specific patterned spread of proteinopathy (abnormal accumulation of proteins) at very early time points, even before the manifestation of behavioral symptoms. This may be discerned by investigating differences in network criticality states of brain cells.’

This proteinopathic inclusions affects the production of a chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) in the brain region (substantia nigra) called dopamine (black substance) and ultimately impairs movement.

Crtical Networks of Brain

The study team established the study results by investigating the early pathophysiological mechanism and if the development of a PD-related proteinopathy was associated with changes in network function through an in vitro setup.

Engineered multielectrode arrays (MEAs) of human neural networks were utilized by reprogramming the human iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells) to neural progenitor cells. The brain activity was then critically monitored for 3 weeks after the proteinopathy induction.

Thus the study shows that although developing pathology at early onset is not clearly manifested in standard measurements of network function, it may be discerned by investigating differences in network criticality states.

The approach opens up some exciting new avenues for identification and understanding the pathological development that underlies various neurodegenerative diseases.

Source: Medindia