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    Nat Med. 2002 Jun;8(6):600-6.

    Dopamine-dependent neurotoxicity of alpha-synuclein: a mechanism for selective neurodegeneration in Parkinson disease.

    Source

    Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Division of Neuroscience,The Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

    Abstract

    The mechanism by which dopaminergic neurons are selectively lost in Parkinson disease (PD) is unknown. Here we show that accumulation of alpha-synuclein in cultured human dopaminergic neurons results in apoptosis that requires endogenous dopamine production and is mediated by reactive oxygen species. In contrast, alpha-synuclein is not toxic in non-dopaminergic human cortical neurons, but rather exhibits neuroprotective activity. Dopamine-dependent neurotoxicity is mediated by 54 83-kD soluble protein complexes that contain alpha-synuclein and 14-3-3 protein, which are elevated selectively in the substantia nigra in PD. Thus, accumulation of soluble alpha-synuclein protein complexes can render endogenous dopamine toxic, suggesting a potential mechanism for the selectivity of neuronal loss in PD.

    PMID:
    12042811
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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