Research
Interests
My
research interests are focused on genetic and environmental factors involved
in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's
Disease (PD). PD is a progressive illness characterized by resting tremor,
slowness and stiffness of movement in addition to problems with balance
and walking. PD is a common disease, affecting nearly 1 million people
in the United States. The cause of PD is unknown, but combinations of
both genetic and environmental factors are thought to play an important
role.
The
work in my laboratory involves using rodent models to identify and characterize
genetic and environmental factors that may lead to PD. Selective neurotoxin
exposure, alone or in combination with transgenic or knockout animals
are used to test the importance of environmental and genetic factors.
Animals will be evaluated on the basis of their motor behavior in combination
with neurochemical, pathological, and immunohistochemical changes in selected
regions of the brain. In addition, genome-wide mRNA expression profiling
is used to identify changes in expected and novel gene expression. Novel
potential candidate genes will be screened for disease-prodisposing polymorphisms
in patients with PD.
Please
feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my research.
Selected
Publications
Search all publications in the NCBI Journal Database
Duka, T., Rusnak, M., Drolet, R.E., Duka, V., Wersinger, C., Goudreau, J.L., Sidu, A., Alpha-synuclein induces the
hyperphosphorylation of tau in the MPTP model of parkinsonism. FASEB
Journal, In Press
Drolet, R.D., Behrouz, B., Lookingland, K.J., Goudreau, J.L. Substrate-mediated enhancement of phosphorylated tyrosine
hydroxylase in nigrostriatal dopamine neurons: evidence for a role
of a-synuclein. J Neurochem, 96:950-959, 2006.
Drolet, R.D., Lookingland, K.J., Behrouz, B, Goudreau,
J.L. Mice lacking ?-synuclein have an attenuated loss of striatal
dopamine following prolonged, chronic MPTP administration. Neurotoxicology, 25(5):761-769, 2004.
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John
L. Goudreau 