The Department of Physiology and Biophysics hosted a lecture on Parkinson's disease by Professor Benjamin Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D., of Boston University this past Thursday at Farber Hall.
"If you go into any diner in Iowa, you will see some of the farmers with tremors. This is because they have spent their lives inhaling pesticides. This is fundamentally caused by the fact that men don't read directions. By 85, many will be demented," Wolozin said.
Tremors illustrate kinesia, an effect Parkinson's has on the body.
Wolozin said that he performs Parkinson's research utilizing the C. elegans worm.
"C. elegans worms are easy to genetically manipulate, and give us real time happenings," Wolozin said.
The worms are exposed to toxins believed to trigger Parkinson's disease. They eventually died after being exposed to the toxins.
LRRK2 is a protein most common to familial Parkinson's genes. According to Wolozin, it is volatile and hard to manipulate. LRRK2 protected the C. elegans from mitochondrial dysfunction. The drug Rotenone was found to have a reciprocal effect on mitochondrial dysfunction.
Wolozin is faculty in the Department of Pharmacology at Boston University. He received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, and his advanced degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Wolozin has contributed to the cellular mechanism of degenerative diseases.
He received the Donald B. Lindsley award in 1988, which is awarded for excellence in the field of behavioral science according to the Society for Neuroscience.
Wolozin said in his undergraduate education he worked with people with degenerative diseases in a unique way. He was responsible for obtaining brains for study from recently deceased subjects with a degenerative disease.
"When I was working with Alzheimer's, I ran to hospitals to get brains from patients. In some cases when I got them they were still warm," Wolozin said.
The attendees of the lecture were very receptive of the presenter.
"Wolozin is a model citizen for neuroscience research," said Jian Feng, an associate professor of the department of physiology and biophysics.
Entitled Peering into the biology of Parkinson's disease: Genes, Protein Aggregation, and Oxidative Injury, Wolozin covered the topics of synuclein and protein aggregation as well as, protein degradation and Parkinson's disease. Mitochondrial vulnerability was discussed along with strategies for neuroprotection.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
