Miratul Muqit, Neurologist and Programme Leader at the MRC-PPU, has today been awarded over £90,000 by Parkinson's UK to fund research which could shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson's.
Across Scotland, Parkinson's affects about 10,000 people, yet there remains no cure. Advances in genetics have identified nearly 20 genes that are mutated in patients with familial forms of Parkinson's and this has paved the way for dissecting the crucial pathways disrupted in Parkinson's.
Miratul's group has been investigating how mutations in the PINK1 gene contribute to neurodegeneration in Parkinson's. In the last few years his group has identified the E3 ligase Parkin and ubiquitin as substrates for PINK1 and demonstrated that the phosphorylation of these substrates at an equivalent residue Serine 65 leads to maximal activation of Parkin E3 ligase activity. This signalling pathway appears to play a vital role in protecting cells from mitochondrial damage.
Over the next three years, Miratul's team will employ state-of-the-art technologies to identify new substrates and cellular pathways regulated by PINK1. It will be exciting to assess whether these are also dependent on Parkin phosphorylation and whether they are disrupted in cells from patients with Parkinson's.
Miratul said:
'In a cell you will see thousands of pathways, but we want to find the crucial ones. PINK1 is a gene that causes changes in the cells and we want to know if these changes disturb an essential pathway. We hope to create a road map of the pathways vital for the survival of brain cells. This way we can better understand how to diagnose and treat the condition.'
Dr Arthur Roach, Director of Research and Development at Parkinson's UK, said:
'Understanding the role of genes in Parkinson's could be the key to discovering what causes some people to develop Parkinson's, something that has remained unknown for so long. Funding projects like this in Dundee is crucial if we are to progress in our research and one day find a cure.'
Please click here for a video interview with Miratul, and here for his interview with Tay2 radio.
Across Scotland, Parkinson's affects about 10,000 people, yet there remains no cure. Advances in genetics have identified nearly 20 genes that are mutated in patients with familial forms of Parkinson's and this has paved the way for dissecting the crucial pathways disrupted in Parkinson's.
Miratul's group has been investigating how mutations in the PINK1 gene contribute to neurodegeneration in Parkinson's. In the last few years his group has identified the E3 ligase Parkin and ubiquitin as substrates for PINK1 and demonstrated that the phosphorylation of these substrates at an equivalent residue Serine 65 leads to maximal activation of Parkin E3 ligase activity. This signalling pathway appears to play a vital role in protecting cells from mitochondrial damage.
Over the next three years, Miratul's team will employ state-of-the-art technologies to identify new substrates and cellular pathways regulated by PINK1. It will be exciting to assess whether these are also dependent on Parkin phosphorylation and whether they are disrupted in cells from patients with Parkinson's.
Miratul said:
'In a cell you will see thousands of pathways, but we want to find the crucial ones. PINK1 is a gene that causes changes in the cells and we want to know if these changes disturb an essential pathway. We hope to create a road map of the pathways vital for the survival of brain cells. This way we can better understand how to diagnose and treat the condition.'
Dr Arthur Roach, Director of Research and Development at Parkinson's UK, said:
'Understanding the role of genes in Parkinson's could be the key to discovering what causes some people to develop Parkinson's, something that has remained unknown for so long. Funding projects like this in Dundee is crucial if we are to progress in our research and one day find a cure.'
Please click here for a video interview with Miratul, and here for his interview with Tay2 radio.