New roles of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor GDNF in motor and cholinergic functions

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a protein that supports dopamine neurons and regulates multiple cellular processes in the brain and peripheral systems. Because of this, GDNF holds promising potential as a disease-modifying agent for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. However, currently available tools used in basic and translational research to study GDNF bear several limitations and often results in side effects due to ectopic expression, hindering the discovery of new GDNF functions and the development of GDNF-based therapies. The main aim of this thesis was to investigate how endogenous GDNF regulates the motor function and cholinergic transmission in the brain using animal models generated in our laboratory where the level of endogenous GDNF can be constitutively or conditionally increased in a spatiotemporally controlled manner. The results presented in this thesis provide the rationale for future research on GDNF signaling as a drug target to treat currently incurable neurological conditions characterized by motor and cholinergic dysfunctions.

Author dc:creator

• Turconi, Giorgio

Statement dc:rights

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Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

URN:ISBN:978-951-51-8534-1

OAI record oai:identifier

https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ahelda.helsinki.fi%3A10138%2F347897