Max Rybarski, David Mrohs, Katharina Osenberg, Maren Hemmersbach, Katharina Pfeffel, Joy Steinkamp, David Schmidt, Karina Violou, Ruth Schäning, Katja Schmidtke, Verian Bader, Michael Andriske, Pauline Bohne, Melanie D Mark, Konstanze F Winklhofer, Hermann Lübbert, Xin-Ran Zhu
Increasing evidence suggests that astrocytes play an important role in the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous studies on our parkin knockout mouse demonstrated a higher accumulation of damaged mitochondria in astrocytes than in surrounding dopaminergic (DA) neurons, suggesting that Parkin plays a crucial role regarding their interaction during PD pathogenesis. In the current study, we examined primary mesencephalic astrocytes and neurons in a direct co-culture system and discovered that the parkin deletion causes an impaired differentiation of mesencephalic neurons...
January 19, 2023: European Journal of Neuroscience