Grant: Project Grant

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative movement disorder in humans. It affects more than 9 million people worldwide, including 115,000 Canadians. Given that the risk of PD increases with age, the number of afflicted Canadians will increase substantially in the next 20-40 years, creating an important social and health issue. Despite the critical importance of neuronal accumulation of the alpha-synuclein protein in the pathophysiology of PD, the mechanisms controlling its level are still not well understood. The overall objective of this grant is to better understand cellular mechanisms involving microRNAs that control the neuronal levels of alpha-synuclein. We propose collaborative and interdisciplinary research between three research teams that investigate basis molecular mechanisms in vitro and in several model systems using a combination of methods that include system's biology approaches (proteomics and transcriptomics) as well as advanced computational biology approaches. This research has the potential to lead to the next paradigm shift in our understanding of PD and could open new opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic strategies.