Analysis of contact sites and morphology of mitochondria and er in a cellular model of Parkinson's Disease

• Grant number: 20/02729-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2020
• End date: April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Merari de Fátima Ramires Ferrari
• Grantee: Isabela Geacomini Rocha
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The role of the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum contact site in cellular neurodegeneration emerge new opportunities to uncover the molecular biology underneath ±-Synucleinopathies in dopaminergic cells in the Parkinson's disease. In fact, it has been proved that the ±-Synuclein can alter the morphology of mitochondria and ER and this alteration has an influence on the contact site. Hence, the main purpose of the present study is to evaluate the mitochondria-ER contact site in the in vitro model of the SNCA mutations in the dopaminergic cells. The study will be conducted on differentiated stable cell lines for SNCA mutations (A30P, A53T) or wildtype (WT). The contact sites and organelle morphology will be evaluated via different methodologies including, split-GFP, transiently transfection of the constructs labeled for mitochondria and ER, and super-resolution microscopy.