Inhibition of Mitochondrial Complex I in Mice (IMAGE)
Caption
Choi et al. show that rotenone -- a drug that induces Parkinson's disease in rodents -- selectively kills dopaminergic neurons by depolymerizing microtubules, leading to the accumulation of dopamine and cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. Rotenone and other factors have been thought to cause Parkinson's disease by inhibiting mitochondrial complex I, but Choi et al. demonstrate that neither genetic nor chemical inhibition of complex I is sufficient to cause dopaminergic cell death. The substantia nigra of mice lacking the complex I subunit Ndufs4 (right) contains the same number of tyrosine hydroxylase–positive dopaminergic neurons as wild-type mice (left). The study appears in the March 7 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.
Credit
Image credit: Choi, W.-S., et al. 2011. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb. 201009132
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