A small fly may have a big impact on Parkinson’s disease research thanks to a team of B.C. scientists.
Researchers at Simon Fraser University’s Verheyen lab say they may have discovered a gene that appears to reverse Parkinson’s disease symptoms in fruit flies. It’s called Cyclin-dependent kinase 8, or Cdk8, and it bears a striking resemblance to a gene in humans called CDK19.
Fly Cdk8 and CDK19 in humans help ensure everything is working properly inside the body’s cells. They help transmit signals and regulate several things including DNA repair and metabolism. CDK19 plays a role in regulating mitochondria, more commonly referred to as the powerhouses of the cell.
For their research, the team used fruit flies with a genetic mutation that gave them Parkinsonism.
“We’re able to put extra copies of this Cdk8 gene back into these flies and it basically reduced their symptoms,” said Esther Verheyen, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry.
“This function involves helping cells get rid of defective mitochondria which is a function that is impaired in Parkinsonism.”
She says the similarities to the human gene could make it possible to one day help human Parkinson’s patients.
“It means we can genetically play with the fruit fly version and learn things applicable to the human disease.”
The research is being done in collaboration with a group from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and was recently published in Nature Communications.
Verheyen says the next steps in their research could include trying to figure out if there is a drug that exists or could be developed that would activate the Cdk8 cells so the body could make it itself instead of having to get it from an external source.
Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disorder that can affect a person’s movement and nervous system. It can cause a variety of motor symptoms such as tremors, a slowness or scarcity of movement, limb stiffness, and problems with walking and balance.
The cause remains largely unknown but is believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The symptoms mainly occur when cells that produce dopamine in the brain die.
Parkinson’s has been called the fastest-growing neurological disorder in the world by the World Health Organization.