Neurons are very complex cells, with complex functions. They build the foundation of how our brains work, and understanding neurons is therefore a necessary step to understand the brain. In this project we focused on a very specific type of neuron, the spiny projection neuron of the striatum. The striatum is an evolutionary conserved area of the brain and part of the basal ganglia, a sub-cortical network that is involved in the control of movement. Many movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, are characterized by dysfunction of the basal ganglia and striatal neurons. Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and an increasing risk for aging societies. Unfortunately, there is no cure of the disease, and symptomatic treatment (such as with L-DOPA) is not without problems. Since striatal neurons play a major part in the disease pathology, advancing the knowledge about their function harbors the potential of developing new therapeutic approaches.
In specific, this project was aimed at understanding the role of cyclic nucleotides in spiny projection neuron function. Cyclic nucleotides are important second messengers in many nerve cells, and their most prominent members are cyclic adenosine monophosphate and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cAMP and cGMP, respectively). The first main objective therefore was to investigate how synaptic plasticity of striatal neurons is influenced by cyclic nucleotides, specifically cAMP. Secondly, we wanted to know if this regulation is altered in a model of Parkinson’s disease.
