| Keywords |
Therapeutic exercise ; Autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease (PD) ; Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2(LRRK2) ; Drosophila model |
| Abstract |
Exercise has a lot of beneficial potentials in normal health, anti-aging, and neurodegenerative diseases. To investigate whether exercise has beneficial effects on Parkinson's disease (PD), we used a genetic LRRK2 (leucinerich repeat kinase) Drosophila model for Parkinsonism. Mutations in LRRK2 gene cause late-onset autosomal dominant PD and contribute to sporadic PD as well. In the present study, we set up two exercise programs for the G2019SLRRK2 transgenic flies that were designed to mimic human exercise programs: low and high intensity. Fly climbing assays were conducted and monitored to represent the locomotor activity (movement ability). For low intensity exercise program, the day 1 adult flies exercised in a 5 inch cylinder for 30 minute, three days per week for a total of three weeks. For the high intensity exercise program, the day 1 adult flies exercised in a 10 inch cylinder f 30 minute daily for three weeks. The expression level of G2019S-LRRK2 in fly brain homogenates were significantly decreased in the low intensity exercise group compared with no exercise control transgenic flies. In contrast, the expression levels of G2019S-LRRK2 flies in the high intensity exercise group were increased compared with the no exercise control flies. Currently, we are investigating the mechanisms underlying exercise altering LRRK2 expression levels. These studies may provide new insight into the relationship between exercise and PD, and may provide the potential non-pharmacological strategies for PD treatment. |