New knowledge about the 'happiness hormone' dopamine

In our brains, billions of nerve cells communicate with each other through signaling substances called neurotransmitters

"In this way, you can find drugs that can stop the disease from progressing further," says researcher Marte Innselset Flydal from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Bergen

Learn how dopamine regulates its own secretion

Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts for chemical reactions in the body

"This 3D structure can tell us how cellular processes occur at the atomic level, so we can also find targeted treatments to correct errors in enzymes, for example, caused by disease mutations

Her research group is a partner in the Neurosysmed Center, and they work to understand how proteins work at the structural level

"When dopamine levels drop again, signaling pathways within the cell are activated

The researchers now believe they can understand the interplay between these regulatory mechanisms at a detailed level

"This knowledge opens up new opportunities for us to develop medicines for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases," Professor Martinez said

use complex methods

These findings are the product of a long-term and world-leading research activity on TH by the Department of Biomedicine (UiB) and Helse Bergen, as well as the protein structure of the research group of Professor José María Valpuesta at the National Centre Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC) in Madrid

"Cryo-electron microscopy is very important for discovering what TH looks like, and it also makes it possible to see how TH changes when it binds to dopamine," Martinez said

Journal Reference :

1. María Teresa Bueno-Carrasco, Jorge Cuéllar, Marte I.