CELLULAR FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN NEUROMELANIN

在帕金森病中，只有特定的脑细胞死亡，这些细胞是不寻常的，因为它们含有一种称为神经黑色素的深色色素。这种色素的存在被认为在这些细胞的死亡中起作用。来自许多不同疾病的证据表明，一种称为氧化损伤的细胞损伤是由组织铁水平增加引起的。铁水平在帕金森病患者的大脑中增加，但仅在大脑中含有神经黑色素的部分。铁的增加被认为会导致氧化损伤，从而导致帕金森病的细胞死亡。为什么铁应该在大脑的这一部分特别增加是未知的，但它已经表明，神经黑色素结合组织铁，铁和神经黑色素之间的相互作用可能导致组织损伤。这些事件被认为是帕金森病中含神经黑素细胞的特定脆弱性的基础。然而，人们对这种色素及其与铁的相互作用知之甚少。这项研究调查了正常大脑和死于帕金森病的人大脑中的神经黑色素。该项目旨在证明神经黑色素如何与铁相互作用，以及神经黑色素在存在和不存在铁的情况下如何影响氧化细胞损伤。人类神经黑色素的使用使这项研究独一无二，它将提供关于这种色素在这种毁灭性疾病病因学中的作用的重要和新颖的信息。

In Parkinson's disease only specific brain cells die, these cells are unusual in that they contain a dark coloured pigment called neuromelanin. The presence of this pigment is thought to play a role in the death of these cells. Evidence from many different diseases has demonstrated that a type of cell damage called oxidative damage is caused by an increase in tissue iron levels. Iron levels are increased in the brains of persons who have died with Parkinson's disease but only in the part of the brain which contains neuromelanin. This increase in iron is thought to lead to oxidative damage and thus cell death in Parkinson's disease. Why iron should be increased specifically in this part of the brain is unknown but it has been shown that neuromelanin binds tissue iron and that the interaction between iron and neuromelanin can result in tissue damage. These events are suggested to underlie the specific vulnerability of the neuromelanin-containing cells in Parkinson's disease. However as yet very little is known about this pigment or how it interacts with iron. This research investigates neuromelanin in the normal brain and in the brain of persons who have died with Parkinson's disease. The project aims to demonstrate how neuromelanin interacts with iron and how neuromelanin, both in the presence and absence of iron, can influence oxidative cell damage. The use of human neuromelanin makes this research unique and it will provide important and novel information regarding the role of this pigment in the aetiology of this devastating disease.