THE BIOCHEMISTRY OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE* (original) (raw)

Abstract

▪ Abstract

Several genes have been identified for monogenic disorders that variably resemble Parkinson's disease. Dominant mutations in the gene encoding α-synuclein enhance the propensity of this protein to aggregate. As a consequence, these patients have a widespread disease with protein inclusion bodies in several brain areas. In contrast, mutations in several recessive genes (parkin, DJ-1, and PINK1) produce neuronal cell loss but generally without protein aggregation pathology. Progress has been made in understanding some of the mechanisms of toxicity: Parkin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase and DJ-1 and PINK1 appear to protect against mitochondrial damage. However, we have not yet fully resolved how the recessive genes relate to α-synuclein, or whether they represent different ways to induce a similar phenotype.

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/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.biochem.74.082803.133400

2005-07-07

2025-01-15

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