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Parkinson's Disease: A Prionopathy? - PubMed

️Fri Jan 01 2021

Review

Parkinson's Disease: A Prionopathy?

Sarah Vascellari et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2021.

Abstract

The principal pathogenic event in Parkinson's disease is characterized by the conformational change of α-synuclein, which form pathological aggregates of misfolded proteins, and then accumulate in intraneuronal inclusions causing dopaminergic neuronal loss in specific brain regions. Over the last few years, a revolutionary theory has correlated Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders with a shared mechanism, which determines α-synuclein aggregates and progresses in the host in a prion-like manner. In this review, the main characteristics shared between α-synuclein and prion protein are compared and the cofactors that influence the remodeling of native protein structures and pathogenetic mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration are discussed.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; gut microbiota; prion-like mechanism; protein misfolding co-factors; α-synuclein.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Parkinson's Disease: A Prionopathy? - PubMed