Abstract:
Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other synucleinopathies, impact the lives
of millions of patients and their caregivers. Synucleinopathies include PD, dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), multiple system atrophy, and several Alzheimer’s Disease variants. They are clinically characterized by intracellular inclusions called Lewy Bodies, which are rich in atypical aggregates of the protein α-synuclein. While dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra are particularly susceptible to α-synuclein-induced aggregation and neurodegeneration, glutamatergic neurons in other brain regions (e.g. cortex) are also frequently affected in PD and other synucleinopathies (Schulz-Schaeffer 2010). Several point mutations in the α-synuclein gene (SNCA), as well as duplication/triplication of SNCA, are linked to familial Parkinson’s disease.
