New target found to fight Parkinson's.

• Position: Brief Article

Neuroscientists have described for the first time how rotenone, an environmental toxin linked specifically to Parkinson's disease, selectively destroys the neurons that produce dopamine, the neurotransmitter critical to body movement and muscle control. Microtubules, intracellular highways that transport dopamine to the brain area that controls body movement, are the crucial target, point out researchers from the University at Buffalo (N.Y.).

Damage to microtubules prevents dopamine from reaching the brain's movement center, causing a backup of the neurotransmitter in the transport system, resulting in a release of toxic free radicals, which destroys the neuron.

"This study shows how an environmental toxin affects the survival of dopamine neurons by targeting microtubules that are critical for the survival of dopamine-producing neurons,"...