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Infection triggers symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease in mice lacking PINK1 protein

In mice lacking a protein genetically linked to Parkinson’s disease, an autoimmune response to gut infection compromises the function of dopamine-producing neurons and leads to transient movement impairments.
  1. Mary K. Herrick

    1. Mary K. Herrick is at the Emory University Laney Graduate School, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA, and at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville.

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  2. Malú G. Tansey

    1. Malú G. Tansey is at the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease and the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32607, USA.

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Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder characterized by problems with movement and by a loss of neuronal cells in the substantia nigra of the midbrain that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. Its causes are not clear, although some evidence suggests that disrupted immune function and inflammation, possibly in the gut, might have a part to play. Two proteins, PINK1 and parkin, regulate the function of energy-generating organelles in the cell called mitochondria1–3, and are dysfunctional in certain forms of Parkinson’s disease. Writing in Nature, Matheoud et al.4 show that, in mice lacking PINK1, an intestinal infection can trigger an immune response that results in the production of immune cells that target mitochondrial molecules. This response also causes transient motor impairments resembling those in Parkinson’s disease and a temporary loss of neuronal dopamine-release sites.

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Nature 571, 481-482 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02094-6

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