Parkinson's Disease
The most common form of Parkinson's Disease is age-related (1% of the population at 65 years of age and 5% at the age of 85 years develop Parkinson's disease) and most likely caused by a combination of environmental exposures and genetic susceptibilities, although there are rare monogenic forms of early-onset of this Parkinson. Patients suffer from neurological conditions affecting movements such as walking, talking and writing. The common denominator of all forms of Parkinson's Disease is the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. To date three major mechanisms, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, formation of toxic aggregates, and/or dysfunctional protein degradation, have been implicated in Parkinson's Disease pathogenesis. Furthermore, by the discovery of the novel gene LRRK2, which seems to be associated with vesicular transport, also the microtubular network and vesicle trafficking are getting into focus of Parkinson's Disease research. Still, both the interaction of these mechanisms on the molecular level and the specific contribution of cellular ageing processes and environmental influences such as toxins and stress are not yet defined.