DJ-1 and hexokinases

National Institute On Aging

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

We have been interested in the relationship between oxidative stress and DJ-1, a rare cause of recessive Parkinson's disease, for several years and have focussed the relationship between oxidative stress and mitochondrial localization. In the current period, we have explored the effects of DJ-1 deficiency in the brains of mice and rats. We find that loss of DJ-1 alters cellular signaling pathways that result, at a cellular level, in the accumulation of changes in metabolic enyzmes. Our current data suggests that altered PTEN/Aky signaling occurs both in cells and in vivo as a consequence of DJ-1 deficiency. However, in vivo there are additional signaling events that occur downstream of Akt and we are subsequently trying to identify what these age-related pathways are.