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Molecular Chaperones, Alpha-Synuclein, and Neurodegeneration

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Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastating neurological condition that affects about 1 % of people older than 65 years of age. In PD, dopaminergic neurons in the mid-brain slowly accumulate cytoplasmic inclusions (Lewy bodies, LBs) of the protein alpha-synuclein (α-syn) and then gradually lose function and die off. Cell death is thought to be causally linked to the aggregation/fibrillization of α-syn. This review focuses on new findings about the structure of α-syn, about how α-syn cooperates with Hsp70 and Hsp40 chaperones to promote neurotransmitter release, and about cell-to-cell transfer of pathogenic forms of α-syn and how Hsp70 might protect against this disease process.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the NIH grant NS057656.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, USA

    Stephan N. Witt

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Witt, S.N. Molecular Chaperones, Alpha-Synuclein, and Neurodegeneration. Mol Neurobiol 47, 552–560 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-012-8325-2

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