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Is Alpha-Synuclein Loss-of-Function a Contributor to Parkinsonian Pathology? Evidence from Non-human Primates.

Front Neurosci · 2016-01-29

DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00012PMID: 26858591

Open accessresearch-article; Journal ArticleOriginal source ↗

Research overview

The text below is the source article’s original abstract under a verified reuse license. cc by

Accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) in Lewy bodies and neurites of midbrain dopamine neurons is diagnostic for Parkinson's disease (PD), leading to the proposal that PD is a toxic gain-of-function synucleinopathy. Here we discuss the alternative viewpoint that α-syn displacement from synapses by misfolding and aggregation results in a toxic loss-of-function. In support of this hypothesis we provide evidence from our pilot study demonstrating that knockdown of endogenous α-syn in dopamine neurons of non-human primates reproduces the pattern of nigrostriatal degeneration characteristic of PD.

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