The research conducted in our group is geared toward elucidating the molecular mechanisms of neuron cell death occurring in neurodegenerative disorders, with the aim of finding a cure for this group of disabling, currently incurable, neurological diseases. To this end, our work has mostly focused so far on Parkinson's disease (PD), a particular neurodegenerative disorder mainly characterized by the degeneration of a specific set of neurons that are anatomically confined to a small region of the brain called substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease should allow the development of new therapeutic strategies aimed at blocking neuronal death in this disorder, as well as elicit important clues to identifying molecular pathways that might be common to other neurodegenerative conditions.
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