Nagarathanam Shobha

• MBBS (NUMed Malaysia)
• Does -synuclein increase cell damage and inflammation in neurons and microglia?

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease which causes slow onset of movement, resting tremors and rigidity in patients. In PD, nerve cells, or neurons, in certain parts of the brain contain abnormal a-synuclein proteins. Neurons are not independent, but instead interact with neighbouring support cells such as microglia. Researchers believe that microglia produce inflammation signals triggered by accumulated a-synuclein in neurons. Thus, my project aims to model the interaction of neuron and microglia-like cells in a co-culture system. This mimics the conditions inside the brain of a PD patient. I stained treated cells and calculated the amount of cell damage present in the neuron and microglia-like cells. I also measured the expression of inflammation markers in co-cultured neuron and microglia-like cells. I hope that results from my project can help specialists and the public to understand the role of inflammation on the disease progression of PD.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Dr Gabriele Saretzki