https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/specific-brain-cells-linked-to-parkinson-s-disease-69988 The Scientist Magazine(r) [ ] Subscribe Menu * Login Search[ ] Login News & Opinion Publications May 2022, issue 1 cover image [TS-Digest] AN INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE Current Issue May 2022, Issue 1 Preview This Issue ArchivesFeatures Spring 2022 cover [logo_ts_no] Quarterly Magazine Current Issue Spring 2022 Preview This Issue ArchivesFeatures Categories Biochemistry Cancer Cell Biology Community Drug Development Environment Evolution Genetics Immunology Microbiology Neuroscience Physiology Public Health Zoology Multimedia Infographics Science Snapshot Crossword Puzzles Videos Webinars Research Resources Podcasts Events Infographics eBooks Videos The Scientist University Research Products Blog Articles Subscribe A pink and blue illustration of the central nervous system, visible through a translucent outline of a human head and shoulders, zooms in to show an illustration of interconnected neurons A pink and blue illustration of the central nervous system, visible through a translucent outline of a human head and shoulders, zooms in to show an illustration of interconnected neurons 1. Home 2. News & Opinion Specific Brain Cells Linked to Parkinson's Disease New research identifies 10 new types of dopamine-making neurons, one of which seems to die off during the disease. black and white image of young man in sunglasses with trees in background Dan Robitzski black and white image of young man in sunglasses with trees in background Dan Robitzski Dan is a Staff Writer and Editor at The Scientist. He typically works on the news desk and joined the team in 2021. He has a background in neuroscience and earned his master's in science journalism at New York University. View full profile. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn about our editorial policies. May 6, 2022 PDF VERSION ABOVE: (c) ISTOCK.COM, DR_MICROBE New research draws a conclusive link between Parkinson's disease and the deterioration of a subpopulation of neurons found within the substantia nigra, a brain region linked to motor control and executive functioning. Scientists have long known that Parkinson's--a progressive, neurodegenerative condition that currently affects about 1 million people in the United States--is associated with a die-off of dopamine-making neurons in the substantia nigra, but multiple studies going back decades have shown that certain neurons in the area survive well into later stages of the disease. In a paper published yesterday (May 5) in Nature Neuroscience, scientists from the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT reveal why that is: there are ten different types of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, and just one is linked to Parkinson's. "This seemed like an opportunity to . . . really clarify which kinds of cells are actually dying in Parkinson's disease," study coauthor Evan Macosko, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the Broad Institute, tells Science News. See "Study Links Flu to Increased Parkinson's Risk a Decade Later" In the study, scientists compared the neuronal diversity in two groups of people who had donated their brains to science: eight who didn't have Parkinson's and ten who did. Using a technique called single-cell RNA sequencing, which can parse the gene expression activity of individual cells within a tissue sample, the team identified all ten types of neurons--each of which produced dopamine but had different gene expression profiles--in both populations and found that there were fewer of only one type within the Parkinson's group's brains. That, New Scientist reports, suggests that only that type of neuron died while the Parkinson's patients were still alive, and is likely linked to the disease's symptoms. That specificity is "the strength of the paper," Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine neuroscientist Raj Awatramani, who didn't work on the study, tells New Scientist. He adds that the research "goes right to the core of the matter." See "Is It Time to Rethink Parkinson's Pathology?" The study authors tell Science News that they hope to replicate the work with a larger number of donor brains so that they can validate their findings and perhaps identify other disease mechanisms. In the meantime, they say that their findings could lead to the development of new treatments for Parkinson's that specifically target or replace the affected cells. Macosko says that stem cell researchers have already reached out, offering to find ways to generate the Parkinson's-affected neurons. See "Parkinson's Patient Transplanted with Neurons Derived from iPSCs " "If a particular subtype is more vulnerable in Parkinson's disease, maybe that's the one we should be trying to replace," Awatramani tells New Scientist Keywords: autopsy brain cell biology cell type dopamine neurodegenerative diseases neuron Neuron diversity neuroscience nutshell organ donor Parkinson's disease single-cell RNA sequencing stem cell More Articles in cell biology and neuroscience An APP-knockout neuron (right) shows extended axonal and reduced dendritic growth compared with a normal mouse neuron (left). Scale bar 50 um. 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