Fig. 4.
Protective molecules and pathways in PD. DJ-1 is the Parkinson disease-related protein. Its over overexpression reduces p53 expression in transactivation and mRNA levels. The presence of DJ-1 greatly stabilizes Mitochondrial Associated ER Membranes (MAMs) and enhances the Ca2+ cross-talk between the two organelles. Alongside this, DJ-1 can bind and stabilize the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL, permitting its inhibition towards Bax/Bak. PTF-μ, MPPE, Mn-SOD can inhibit p53 mitochondrial translocation and the interaction of p53/Bcl-xL. Abbreviations: MAMs:Mitochondrial Associated ER Membranes, PTF-μ: pifithrin-μ, MPPE: N-Methyl, N-propynyl-2-phenylethylamine, Mn-SOD:mitochondrial superoxide dismutase