Scientists discover how staining cells receive calcium and improve associated cells with calcium channel signaling

UC San Diego Health researchers have discovered a new way in which stem cells receive calcium and improves associated cells with calcium channel signaling.

The researchers found that HDAC2 a key protein found in the stem cells of the peripheral nervous system plays a major role in regulating calcium levels in the cells. Furthermore HDAC2 is upregulated in Parkinsons disease and Claw et al demonstrated that HDAC2 is activated by tyrosine kinase (TKI) a key enzyme that produces the kinase TKI. The new study published today in the Journal of Neuroscience explores what effect HDAC2 activation has on neurogenesis the generation of neural precursor cells from stem cells that eventually develop into neurons.

Our findings identify HDAC2 as a key protein in the regulation of neurogenesis and reveal how HDAC2 modulates neurogenesis said senior author Scott S. Young MD vice president for research and director of the UC San Diego Peripheral Neurogenetics Institute.

We believe this study may open a window into how stem cells can be used to develop therapies for neurological disorders such as Parkinsons chronic conditions such as myotonic dystrophy and bone disorders said lead author Candice Price PhD a postdoctoral fellow in the Medical Scientist Training Program in Radiology at UC San Diego Health.

In this study the scientists focused on HDAC2 was defined as any cell with the function of receiving treatment for calcium inside the nucleus (the nucleus). Cells that lack HDAC2 were found in peripheral nerves and HDAC2s role within neurons was studied in mice suffering from Parkinsons disease.

These findings were first published in the journal Nature Neuroscience by Yvonne C. Park PhD assistant professor of neuroscience at UC San Diego and in a study led by Hill-Sloan Memorial Foundation.

The researchers studied mice that lacked HDAC2 and found that HDAC2 played an important role in regulating calcium signaling.

Of the many proteins that regulate calcium signaling so-called HDAC2 is one of the first proteins to be down-regulated in peripheral neurogenesis following acne in patients with Parkinsons disease and TKI down-regulation in cells prior to skin melanoma melanoma is associated with higher risk of melanoma relapses said senior author Craig Steele PhD professor and head of the Guay Island Biomedical Research Center at UC San Diego.

Additional recently reported data-in collaboration with Caltech and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-show that individuals with Parkinsons disease have reduced levels of HDAC2 and argue that the role of HDAC2 in regulating calcium signaling in neurons along the peripheral nervous system should be investigated.