Molecular mechanism of monoamine toxicity in Parkinson's disease: hypothetical cell death model

Although there have been experimental approaches to understanding the etiol ogy of Parkinson's disease, the cause of cell degeneration in this neurolog ical disorder remains a mystery. Herein, a hypothetical model is proposed t o explain the mechanism leading neurons to die. The model is based on recen t experimental evidence and it attempts to dissect the actions of dopamine and metal ions as potential triggers for the activation of an ordered casca de of events of the cell death machinery. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.