Written By Dr. Marija Cvetanovic Edited by Dr. Sriram Jayabal
Protein kinase C: one protein that may help to protect against cerebellar neuronal dysfunction & death in spinocerebellar ataxias
Among the estimated 86 billion brain cells (known as “neurons”) in the human body (Azevedo et al., 2009), there is a small population of cells called Purkinje neurons. Though they only constitute a modest ~14-16 million cells, (Nairn et al., 1989), death or dysfunction in Purkinje neurons can cause you to lose your ability to walk coherently – a clinical symptom known as “ataxia.” This is because Purkinje neurons are the major work horse of the cerebellum, which is the part of the brain that fine-tunes our movement. While different types of hereditary spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are caused by mutations in different genes, they all exhibit one thing in common: Purkinje neurons undergo severe degeneration. Neither the reasons for this selective vulnerability of Purkinje neurons in ataxia, nor how to increase their resistance to degeneration, are clear.
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