This application is submitted in response to NIH Notice Number NOT-OD-09-058 """""""" NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications"""""""". Interest resides in dissecting the interplay between pesticide exposure and excess cytosolic dopamine (DA) as potential risk factors for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). In the parent grant, NIEHS R01 ES015747, Drosophila is being used to determine the mechanism by which sequestration of DA by the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT) protects against the neurotoxicity of pesticides. Here the intent is to use Drosophila to screen for drugs that potentiate VMAT function and may thus act as novel neuroprotective agents. This proposal also seeks to use a rodent model of PD to determine whether viral mediated over-expression of VMAT will provide neuroprotection against pesticides in mammals, and to further test the potential neuroprotective effects of drugs that have been identified with flies.
This proposal will create jobs for 2 post-doctoral fellows, arguably the backbone of all biomedical research in the U.S. It will also help to financially support 6 undergraduate students through their work in the laboratories. This will serve to enhance their education, retain students in the university who otherwise might not be able to afford to continue, encourage work in an environment that will facilitate their long-term goals, and promote spending in a critical population.
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