Catalog

ASAP is committed to accelerating the pace of discovery and informing a path to a cure for Parkinson’s disease through collaboration, research-enabling resources, and data sharing. We’ve created this catalog to showcase the research outputs and tools developed by ASAP-funded programs.

Article

Dopamine neuron activity encodes the length of upcoming contralateral movement sequences

Published: Dopamine neurons (DANs) in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) have been related to movement vigor, and loss of these neurons leads to bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease. Here the authors investigate whether DANs encode a general motivation signal or modulate movement kinematics. View original preprint.

Dataset

Source data for Mendonça et al 2024

Source data and code from dopamine neuron activity encode the length of upcoming contralateral movement sequences by Mendonça et al 2024.

Article

In vivo reduction of age-dependent neuromelanin accumulation mitigates features of Parkinson’s disease

Published: Using a newly developed rodent model, the authors assessed whether the intracellular buildup of neuromelanin that occurs with age can be slowed down in vivo to prevent or attenuate Parkinson’s disease. When neuromelanin reaches a specific threshold, it can trigger PD pathology in this animal model. View original preprint.

Protocol

Neuromelanin processing and image acquisition

Protocol for preparing post-mortem tissue for intracellular NM quantification.

Article

Development and characterization of a non-human primate model of disseminated synucleinopathy

The intraputaminal delivery of AAV9-SynA53T resulted in a widespread synucleinopathy throughout the cerebral cortex and substantia nigra in the non-human primate brain.

Article

Functional efficacy of the MAO-B inhibitor safinamide in murine substantia nigra pars compacta dopaminergic neurons in vitro: A comparative study with tranylcypromine

Safinamide (SAF) is used for PD by enhancing dopamine signal. SAF prolongs recovery from dopamine-mediated firing inhibition in SNpc DAergic neurons, mildly compared to tranylcypromine, suggesting multiple sites of action for SAF’s therapeutics.

Article

The VEGFs/VEGFRs system in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases: Pathophysiological roles and therapeutic implications

This article focuses on the VEGFs/VEGFRs involvement in neurodegenerative diseases by reviewing the current literature on the rather complex VEGFs/VEGFRs contribution to the pathogenic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Dataset

Intracellular neuromelanin from post-mortem human midbrain and pontine

This data set includes different quantification parameters to identify the features of intracellular neuromelanin.

Lab Resource

pAAV_Cbh_DIO_hTyrNull_HATag

Cre-dependent expression of a truncated human tyrosinase is inactive and does not lead to the accumulation of neuromelanin in catecholaminergic neurons (control virus). Strong expression of CbH promoter that is non-silencenable, HA tag for histological verification of expression.

Protocol

Immunophenotyping of immune cells by high dimensional flow cytometry

Protocol to assess cellular phenotypes by multiparametric flow cytometry panels containing markers to identify cell types and activation states.

Protocol

Intracardiac perfusion and rat brain fixation for immunohistochemistry

Protocol for rat brain processing to perform parallel histological analysis in one hemisphere and high dimensional flow cytometry in the other.

Protocol

Lipopolysaccharide intraperitoneal injection in rats and sickness behavior assessment

This protocol is a quick guide to how to prepare a solution of LPS on the saline vehicle, how to inject a rat for an intraperitoneal injection, and how to monitor the animal after injection.