Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease in North America, mainly affecting people over 60 and causing symptoms such as tremor and bradykinesia. No disease-modifying treatments have ever been approved for PD.

Those with PD exhibit aggregations of α-synuclein proteins in the dopamine-producing cells of the brain. PD is also often accompanied by dysregulation of genetic pathways controlling macroautophagy, a cell process that disposes of large waste molecules. Matrine, an alkaloid found in plants of the Sophora genus, is used in Chinese medicine for various ailments and has been shown to modulate macroautophagy in in vitro and in vivo cancer models. My research sought to determine if matrine could enhance macroautophagy and therefore reduce α-synuclein aggregations in a transgenic C. elegans model of PD.

C. elegans NL5901 worms, which express human α-synuclein tagged with YFP, were agesynched with alkaline hypochlorite. Then, 250 μL of either a high matrine concentration, low matrine concentration, or distilled water control were pipetted onto the age-synched cultures. 24 hours after exposure, worms were photographed under a fluorescent microscope, and ImageJ software was used to determine the fluorescence intensity of each worm.

My data showed no significant differences between any of the three experimental groups, likely due to high variation in the data set and an inadequate sample size. As my results were inconclusive, further studies with more trials, higher and lower matrine concentrations, different model organisms, different autophagy modulators, or direct autophagy quantification may be valuable.