Missing Link in Parkinson's Disease Found (1 of 3) (IMAGE)

WashU Medicine

Missing Link in Parkinson's Disease Found (1 of 3)

Caption

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have described a missing link in understanding how damage to the body's cellular power plants leads to Parkinson's disease and, perhaps surprisingly, to some forms of heart failure. A mouse heart, in gray, shows signs of heart failure because it is missing Mfn2, newly identified as a key molecule in the process that culls unhealthy mitochondria from cells. Superimposed on the mouse heart is a fruit fly heart tube, shown in color. It also shows signs of failure because it is missing Parkin, another key molecule in mitochondrial quality control. These same molecules implicated in heart failure also play roles in Parkinson's disease.

Credit

Gerald W. Dorn II, MD

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