Parkinson's disease | Parkinson's Disease Pathology

A Closer Look at Lewy Bodies

April 6, 2020 Mary Ann Chapman Comments 1 comment

Since the early 1900s, Lewy bodies have been a primary distinguishing feature of Parkinson’s disease pathology. First described by Dr. Friederich Lewy in 1912, Lewy bodies appear under light microscopes as large sphere-shaped masses in neuronal cell bodies and are accompanied by spindle-like inclusions in neuronal process referred to as Lewy neurites.1 In addition to aggregated alpha synuclein and ubiquitin, Lewy bodies contain at least 90 other molecules.2 Lewy Bodies and Neurites Lewy bodies (round brown/black structures) and Lewy neurites…

Do Neurons Die in Parkinson’s Disease Because They Lack Trophic Support?

March 1, 2018 Mary Ann Chapman Comments 0 Comment

Lipids are in the news again, with a recently published hypothesis proposing that age-dependent decreases in GM1 ganglioside can trigger Parkinson’s disease.(1) Forsayeth and Hadaczek describe parkinsonian-like neurodegeneration in humans and animals with mutations in ganglioside metabolic pathways. In their view, the age-related loss of GM1 prevents glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) from signaling and, without this trophic support, selected catecholaminergic neurons die. Gangliosides are lipids that consist of carbohydrates with a 9-carbon backbone and a carboxylic acid group. They…

Following the Pathway Analysis in Parkinson’s Disease

September 20, 2016 Mary Ann Chapman Comments 0 Comment

Pathway analyses of genomic data make intuitive sense to me for conditions like Parkinson’s disease. Only a handful of single genes have been consistently associated with Parkinson’s, but the genomic picture is certainly larger, and we are faced with the complex possibility that numerous rarer variations play a role. The underlying assumption of pathway analyses is that diverse genomic variations may be part of common pathways that, when dysfunctional, may lead to disease.

Synaptic Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease: The Chicken or the Egg?

June 3, 2016 Mary Ann Chapman Comments 2 comments

Figuring out what happens first in Parkinson’s disease is a difficult task. People are not usually diagnosed until they experience motor symptoms, at which point 70-80% of their nigrostriatal dopamine neurons have already died. This makes it hard to trace the sequence of events that leads to neuronal degeneration.

Why Don’t We All Get Parkinson’s Disease?

May 13, 2016 Mary Ann Chapman Comments 0 Comment

This seems like an odd question given that only a small percentage of people actually get Parkinson’s disease. Nevertheless, the question has always perplexed me. Here’s my rationale. The main neurons responsible for the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are dopamine-containing cells that project from the substantia nigra pars compacta to the striatum. In the striatum, each nigrostriatal dopamine neuron branches into a dizzying array of tiny appendages that make hundreds of thousands of synapses.1, 2 And these neurons do…

Parkinson's Disease Pathology

Summaries of current research by Mary Ann Chapman, PhD

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