Request for Funding

Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2004

Mentor: Dwight German, Ph.D.
Department: Psychiatry
Room number: NC6.402
Mail Code: 9070
Phone number: 87385
E-mail: dwight.german@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Mitochondria in rodent dopaminergic neurons: role in neurodegeneration
Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): pending

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects)

Brief Description of Project:

Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease (PD) appear to be related to mitochondria dysfunction. A neurotoxin, MPTP, causes a parkinsonian syndrome in humans, monkeys and mice, which includes degeneration of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons. MPTP causes inhibition of Complex I of mitochondrial respiration, and a similar inhibition is found normally in many patients with PD. Rat dopaminergic neurons, however, do not degenerate following MPTP treatment. The present project will examine mitochondria function in over 100 mitochondria-related genes in substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons isolated from the rat and mouse. This experiment will begin to identify mitochondria genes that contribute to species differences in vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons to environmental and endogenous toxins.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

McMillen, B.A., Warnack, W., German, D.C. and Shore, P.A. Effects of chronic desipramine treatment on rat brain noradrenergic responses to a adrenergic drugs. Eur. J. Pharmacol., 61: 239 246, 1980.

McMillen, B.A., German, D.C., Sanghera, M.K., Warnack, W. and Shore, P.A. Pimozide: Delayed onset of action at rat striatal pre and postsynaptic dopamine receptors. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 215: 150 155, 1980.

German, D.C., Nelson, O., Liang, F., Liang, C-L., and Games, D. Locus coeruleus cell loss in the PDAPP mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. J. Neurosci. 2003, submitted.

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