Cork NeuroScience Group

University College Cork

Friday April 26th 2013

in association with

Neuroscience Ireland,

present, to mark the

European Month of the Brain:

Parkinson’s disease: from molecules to movement

Welcome Message

We would like to welcome you to University College Cork for our conference, “Parkinson’s disease: from molecules to movement”. This meeting is hosted by the Cork NeuroScience Group, in celebration of European Month of the Brain.

We are deeply grateful for financial support from Lundbeck, AbbVie, Neuroscience Ireland, The Ana-tomical Society and the College of Medicine & Health, UCC. It is a great honour for our Parkinson’s Dis-ease Research Cluster in UCC to welcome such a prestigious line-up of speakers at this inaugural annual conference. We are confident that today’s meeting will help to foster existing collaborations between our group in UCC and those of the visiting speakers, as well as to develop new collaborations.

The month of April has been designated as Parkinson’s Awareness month and is marked worldwide. We are very optimistic that our ongoing work in Parkinson’s disease will advance our knowledge of this condition and its treatment, and improve outcomes for patients and their carers.

Dr. Aideen Sullivan, Dr. Sean O’Sullivan, Ms. Lucy Collins and Dr. Gerard O’Keeffe.

(Organising Committee)

Parkinson’s disease: Can we move in the right direction? Shane Hegarty, PhD student , Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience, UCC.

‘Imagine losing the control of your own movements’ In Parkinson’s disease an important population of brain cells, known as dopaminergic neurons, die. Let’s imagine these dopaminergic neurons as a tree, with the tree’s roots in the midbrain and its branches in the forebrain. These branches produce dopa-mine which allows us to voluntarily control our movements. However, they are killed in Parkinson’s disease. The resulting loss of dopamine means that Parkinson’s disease sufferers can decide on what movements they want to carry out, but they then cannot control how this movement occurs, or even if it occurs at all! Current Parkinson’s disease treatment involves dopamine replacement, that is, giving drugs that become or act like dopamine, which provide symptomatic relief. However they do not stop, slow or cure the disease. Can we move towards a Parkinson’s disease cure? The fact that the loss of just a single population of cells in the brain has such enormous consequences for the sufferer is scary. However, it provides the

promising possibility that a cure for this disease may reside in replacement of these specific cells. In order to produce these dopaminergic neurons, we first need to understand how they develop. Brain stem cells: can a cure stem from them? Brain stem cells can develop into any brain cell type, given the right signals. Furthermore, they can potentially generate an unlimited number of brain cells. We can add various signals to brain stem cells to try and turn them into dopaminergic neurons. The big world of signals. These signals are present in the nervous system as it develops, and each region of the nervous system has a different combination of signals, telling brain stem cells what to become. We are interested in which combinations of specific signals can turn brain stem cells into dopaminergic neurons.

Where do we move next? We need to take these dopaminergic neurons that are produced in the laboratory, and transplant them into the brain of Parkinson’s disease patients. Hopefully

the ‘branches’ of these transplanted dopaminergic neurons will grow into the brain, take the place of the old, dead branches, and produce dopamine. The transplantation of dopamin-

ergic neurons could help Parkinson’s patients all over the globe to once again control their movements.

Condensed from article published in ‘The Boolean: Snapshots of doctoral research’ UCC 2012. Full article http://publish.ucc.ie/boolean2012/00/Hegarty/08/en

College of Medicine and Health

13:45 - 15:30 SESSION 3: Clinical aspects of PD I Chair: Dr. Sean O’Sullivan.

13:45 - 14:30 Dr. Seamus Kearney, Belfast City Hospital. “Parkinson's disease diagnosis and mimics”.

14:30 - 15:00

Dr. Sean O’Sullivan, Cork University Hospital. “Impulsive and addictive behaviours in Parkinson's disease”.

15:00 -15:30 Ms. Deirdre Hoban, NUI Galway. “Delivery of neurotrophin-secreting stem cells to the hemi-Parkinsonian rat brain in a type 1 collagen hydrogel”. Ms. Mary NÍ Flathartaigh, NUI Galway. “Fibrin as a biomaterial matrix for support of neurotrophin overexpressing mesenchymal stem cells in the adult rat brain”. Dr. Grace Crotty, CUH. “Exploring the predictive diagnostic value of the CSF neurotrophic factor architecture in Parkinson’s disease”.

15:30 - 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 - 17:45 SESSION 4: Clinical aspects of PD II Chair: Dr. Sean O’Sullivan.

16:00 - 16:45

Dr. Richard Walsh, Tallaght Hospital. “Deep Brain Stimulation and novel treatments in Parkinson's disease”.

16:45 - 17:45 PLENARY LECTURE Chair: Prof. John F. Cryan kindly sponsored by the Anatomical Society. Prof. Roger Barker, Cambridge University. “The challenge of taking cell therapies to the clinic in Parkinson's disease”.

17:45 Closure of meeting

Cork Neuroscience Group, in association with Neuroscience Ireland, present, to mark the European Month of the Brain:

Parkinson’s disease: from molecules to movement. Friday 26th April 2013

Room G.05, Western Gateway Building, University College Cork, Western Road, Cork.

8:45 WELCOME ADDRESS Prof. George Shorten, Head of School of Medicine, UCC.

9:00 - 10:45 SESSION 1: Basic science - animal models of PD I. Chair: Dr. Aideen Sullivan.

9:00 - 9:30 Dr. Eilis Dowd, NUI Galway. “Preclinical modelling of Parkinson's disease - past, present and future”.

9:30 - 10:15 Dr. Maeve Caldwell, Bristol University. “Generation of midbrain dopamine neurons from human pluripotent stem cells: implications for Parkinson’s disease”.

10:15 - 10:45

Dr. Gerard O’Keeffe, UCC. “Neurotrophic factors for Parkinson's disease therapy”.

10:45 - 11:15 Coffee break

11:15 -13:00 SESSION 2: Basic science - animal models of PD II Chair: Dr. Aideen Sullivan.

11:15 - 12:00 Dr. Claire Kelly, Cardiff University. “Cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease”.

12:00 - 12:30

Dr. Gavin Davey, Trinity College Dublin. “Mitochondrial fusion/fission dynamics in a parkinsonian model”.

12:30 - 13:00

Mr. Shane Hegarty, UCC. “Smad-dependent molecular mechanisms regulating dopaminergic neurite development”. Ms. Louise Collins, UCC. “Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Phosphatase (MKP)-1 as a Neuroprotective Agent: Promotion of the Morphological Devel-opment of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons”.

13:00 - 13:45 Lunch

The Conference Dinner will be held at 8.00pm in The Weir Bistro, The River Lee Hotel, Western Road. Tickets (€30 each) must be purchased in advance from Dr. Aideen Sullivan or Ms. Lucy Collins.