Prospectus, June 12, 1972

GOVERNOR CITES PARKLAND STUDENT FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE; Harris Moeller Selected As New Dean of Students; Charles Gerron Is Student Senate President For 1972-73 School Year; Scholarships Awarded To Parkland Students; Parkland College Personnel Receive Recognition; Teacher Aides Hold Banquet; New Registration Procedures Will Begin In Fall \u2772 Quarter; Parkland Foundation Holds First Charter Meeting; Board of Trustees Have Two Very Eventful Meetings: Results of the Meeting of April 18, 1972, Results of the Meeting of May 16, 1972; Parkland Summer Session Begins June 19; New Non-Credit Courses Slated For Summer; Graebner to Speak at Parkland Commencement; Parkland Notices: Schedule changes, Vocational Information, Summer Jobs, Summer Graduate?, For Sale-Bargain!, Summer Registration, Lost; News From William J. Scott, Attorney General - State of Illinois; Parkland Student Government Passes Viet Nam Resolution; Journalism Club; A Day In The Park Has Large Turn-Out; The Editor\u27s View: Europe This Year - A-1; Student Senate Resolution; Seed For Thought; Unique Summer-Winter Program Developed In Maine; Youth Caucus \u2772 Organized In Illinois; Portfolios to Replace Grades; Coeds Bring Fraternity Ban, Other Campus News in Brief; New Academic Calendars; Entertainment & Fine Arts, Or ( We Got Culture Too! ); Movie Review: One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich; Ear Wax; Orpheus Reborn: Been around the block twice..., greece looks good..., ast i..., A babe be born..., Sweet sweets..., Away To The Mountain; WLS - Wavelength; Book Review: The Assassins (Elia Kazan); Summer Session \u2772; Summer Session; Course Offerings; Angel & Clayborn in Nationals; Hart Beathttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1972/1007/thumbnail.jp

Investigating Bacterial Sources of Toxicity as an Environmental Contributor to Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration

Parkinson disease (PD) involves progressive neurodegeneration, including loss of dopamine (DA) neurons from the substantia nigra. Select genes associated with rare familial forms of PD function in cellular pathways, such as the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), involved in protein degradation. The misfolding and accumulation of proteins, such as α-synuclein, into inclusions termed Lewy Bodies represents a clinical hallmark of PD. Given the predominance of sporadic PD among patient populations, environmental toxins may induce the disease, although their nature is largely unknown. Thus, an unmet challenge surrounds the discovery of causal or contributory neurotoxic factors that could account for the prevalence of sporadic PD. Bacteria within the order Actinomycetales are renowned for their robust production of secondary metabolites and might represent unidentified sources of environmental exposures. Among these, the aerobic genera, Streptomyces, produce natural proteasome inhibitors that block protein degradation and may potentially damage DA neurons. Here we demonstrate that a metabolite produced by a common soil bacterium, S. venezuelae, caused DA neurodegeneration in the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, which increased as animals aged. This metabolite, which disrupts UPS function, caused gradual degeneration of all neuronal classes examined, however DA neurons were particularly vulnerable to exposure. The presence of DA exacerbated toxicity because neurodegeneration was attenuated in mutant nematodes depleted for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme in DA production. Strikingly, this factor caused dose-dependent death of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, a dopaminergic line. Efforts to purify the toxic activity revealed that it is a highly stable, lipophilic, and chemically unique small molecule. Evidence of a robust neurotoxic factor that selectively impacts neuronal survival in a progressive yet moderate manner is consistent with the etiology of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Collectively, these data suggest the potential for exposures to the metabolites of specific common soil bacteria to possibly represent a contributory environmental component to PD