, 1999 and Orimo et al., 2008). Cortical deposits of synuclein that occur late in the disease presumably contribute to cognitive problems. Certain nonmotor manifestations of PD can respond to dopamine replacement, raising questions about the significance

of synuclein deposition outside the nigrostriatal projection. However, many symptoms do not respond, and the widespread accumulation of synuclein presumably accounts for many of the dopamine-resistant symptoms. It is important to note that the relationship between α-synuclein deposition and neuronal dysfunction remains unclear. In the substantia nigra, substantial cell loss occurs before symptoms develop, suggesting that protein deposition is not as important as cell loss. However, cell loss may not accompany synuclein deposition elsewhere. In the enteric nervous system, Lewy pathology www.selleckchem.com/products/VX-770.html is indeed not associated with cell loss (Annerino et al., CB-839 in vitro 2012), raising the possibility of a functional rather than anatomic disturbance. On the other hand, synuclein deposition itself may not even produce dysfunction, and pathologic investigation of many older individuals (up to 30% of centenarians) reveals extensive synucleinopathy (incidental Lewy body disease) with no clear neurological symptoms (Ding et al., 2006 and Markesbery et al., 2009). Indeed, synuclein aggregation may represent a neuroprotective response,

with a different species of synuclein responsible for dysfunction. Although synuclein deposition has thus superseded cell loss as evidence of degeneration, its actual role in the degenerative process remains unknown. α-synuclein has also been

implicated in at least two other disorders, multiple system atrophy (MSA) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Interestingly, these conditions also produce clinical parkinsonism but involve the deposition of α-synuclein until in different cells from those affected by typical PD. MSA can begin with parkinsonism, autonomic failure, or cerebellar ataxia but usually progresses to involve one or both of the other components, resulting in the recognition that these initially disparate conditions reflect a common disorder. However, the parkinsonism observed in MSA does not generally respond well to dopamine replacement, presumably because the pathology affects many cell populations in addition to dopamine-producing cells of the substantia nigra, including postsynaptic medium spiny neurons in the striatum (Papp and Lantos, 1994 and Sato et al., 2007). In contrast, PD affects preferentially the dopamine neurons, with spared postsynaptic cells still responsive to dopamine replacement. In MSA, α-synuclein deposits in glial (generally oligodendroglial) cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs) (Spillantini et al., 1998a and Tu et al., 1998) rather than in the neuronal Lewy bodies or dystrophic neurites more characteristic of PD.

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