So on Monday afternoon, I’m starting my fourth (and final?) rotation with Dr. Heather Macarthur. I’m actually pretty excited about this rotation since, for the first time, I’m doing research in stuff I’m pretty interested in. I wanted to go to SLU because of the research going on in Dr. Westfall’s lab, and Dr. Macarthur works really closely with him…thus, the research is similar…
Here’s the rundown: Parkinson’s Disease is characterized by a loss of motor control because (so far as we know) neurons localized in your brain (acround the cerebellum and nucleus accumbens…I think…) die for some reason. It is thought that one way these neurons die is due to oxidative stress. For those of you who know anything about chemistry, there are things called “free radicals,” which are analogues of known compounds that are missing an electron…hence, they “want” to bind with something else by any means necessary. In the body, these free radicals can do a lot of damage and can end up damaging or killing a given cell. We take antioxidants (and we have natural ones in our bodies…) to prevent damage by free radicals…surely you’ve heard of those…
Well, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is important in controlling our body movements in our brain (among other functions). Apparently, there is a “version” of dopamine known as dopaminochrome that is essentially a dopamine free radical… If this stuff accumulates in your brain, it can kill off the cells it inhabits…and in Parkinson’s patients, it is possible that this molecule ends up accumulating where dopamine is normally localized.
(side note: as Dr. Macarthur pointed out to me, we normally think of Parkinson’s patients as moving uncontrollably. Actually, Parkinson’s patients would normally not be able to move at all, but the drugs we give them flood the cells with dopamine, causing more uncontrollable movement. I didn’t know that…thought it was interesting… :-P)
Anyway, Dr. Macarthur’s lab works with dopaminochrome in rats, detecting it and analyzing its effects. Actually, they use a drug that causes Parkinson’s-like effects in rats or cell lines, which allows for testing. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll end up doing in her lab, but I think I’ll be messing with an HPLC (high pressure liquid chromatography) that’s been modified to detect dopaminochrome in a variety of situations… If all goes well, then I’ll be doing this stuff for the next 4 years until I get a Ph.D… 😛
is it ever a problem that the drug that induces parkinsons like effects does it in a different way than parkinsons, and you end up with skewed data/conclusions ? I’m sure this is combated in some way, yeah?
Yeah, this is true. All I know is that it produces Parkinson’s-like effects, so the mechanism could be different…but at the same time, if they can figure out how a drug causes the problems, then they’ll likely be able to adapt it to the real thing. The drug is called MPTP…here’s some info about it:
http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?Article=3299
looks real interesting… When do you have to choose which lab to be in by?
Technically by the fall, but the sooner the better. If I don’t like this lab, I can just do another rotation, or pick a lab I’ve already rotated in…but they want you in a lab by the fall. Actually, if at all possible, by July 1 when the new fiscal year starts and my “salary” can be switched to the new department.
That’s pretty interesting stuff. Thanks for the update.
As i’ve said before, i love how you and nathan have total conversations through this comment function. It’s for freakin comments, yo, not conversations! send a damn email!! Anyway, so my comment is that it sounds very interesting, bro, even tho I have no clue what you’re talking about. Good for you! Miss and love you!