One of the changes in dopamine activity that is seen in a midbrain region – substantia nigra results ultimately in Parkinson’s disease. Dopamine is also found to amplify or dampen the activity of other neurons.
Neuroprotective Factor
As it’s known that in Parkinson’s disease, there is a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, the present study for the first time investigated the role of a transcription factor BCL11A in dopaminergic neurons of both mice and human cells.
The factor was found that BCL11A plays a protective role for neurons and its loss ultimately contributes to even death of the neurons. This suggests the neuroprotective function of BCL11A.
However, the molecular mechanism behind this needs to be further investigated in more detail in upcoming studies.
Source: Medindia
