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Spillantini MG, Goedert M. The alpha-synucleinopathies: Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2001; 920:16-27. [PMID: 11193145 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06900.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 357] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, after Alzheimer's disease. Neuropathologically, it is characterized by the degeneration of populations of nerve cells that develop filamentous inclusions in the form of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites. Recent work has shown that the filamentous inclusions of Parkinson's disease are made of the protein alpha-synuclein and that rare, familial forms of Parkinson's disease are caused by missense mutations in the alpha-synuclein gene. Besides Parkinson's disease, the filamentous inclusions of two additional neurodegenerative diseases, namely, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy, have also been found to be made of alpha-synuclein. Recombinant alpha-synuclein has been shown to assemble into filaments with similar morphologies to those found in the human diseases and with a cross-beta fiber diffraction pattern. The new work has established the alpha-synucleinopathies as a major class of neurodegenerative disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- M G Spillantini
- Department of Neurology and Brain Repair Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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52
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Matsubara M, Yamagata H, Kamino K, Nomura T, Kohara K, Kondo I, Miki T. Genetic association between Alzheimer disease and the alpha-synuclein gene. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2001; 12:106-9. [PMID: 11173882 DOI: 10.1159/000051243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
alpha-Synuclein has been isolated as a component of amyloid in addition to the major A beta peptide in Alzheimer disease (AD). However, there are conflicting reports regarding the association of alpha-synuclein gene polymorphism with AD. Using a novel and common polymorphism in intron 3, we examined the relationship between AD and alpha-synuclein and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genes in 183 Japanese AD patients and 210 controls. Carriers of the alpha-synuclein deletion (D) allele had a 2.2-fold increased risk of developing AD than noncarriers in women. The odds ratio for the ApoE epsilon 4 and the alpha-synuclein D allele was 11.4 in women. The results showed that the alpha-synuclein gene is associated with sporadic AD in women, independent of ApoE epsilon 4 status.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Matsubara
- Department of Geriatric Medicine, Ehime University School of Medicine, Onsengun, Ehime, Japan
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53
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Touchman JW, Dehejia A, Chiba-Falek O, Cabin DE, Schwartz JR, Orrison BM, Polymeropoulos MH, Nussbaum RL. Human and mouse alpha-synuclein genes: comparative genomic sequence analysis and identification of a novel gene regulatory element. Genome Res 2001; 11:78-86. [PMID: 11156617 PMCID: PMC311023 DOI: 10.1101/gr.165801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The human alpha-synuclein gene (SNCA) encodes a presynaptic nerve terminal protein that was originally identified as a precursor of the non-beta-amyloid component of Alzheimer's disease plaques. More recently, mutations in SNCA have been identified in some cases of familial Parkinson's disease, presenting numerous new areas of investigation for this important disease. Molecular studies would benefit from detailed information about the long-range sequence context of SNCA. To that end, we have established the complete genomic sequence of the chromosomal regions containing the human and mouse alpha-synuclein genes, with the objective of using the resulting sequence information to identify conserved regions of biological importance through comparative sequence analysis. These efforts have yielded approximately 146 and approximately 119 kb of high-accuracy human and mouse genomic sequence, respectively, revealing the precise genetic architecture of the alpha-synuclein gene in both species. A simple repeat element upstream of SNCA/Snca has been identified and shown to be necessary for normal expression in transient transfection assays using a luciferase reporter construct. Together, these studies provide valuable data that should facilitate more detailed analysis of this medically important gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- J W Touchman
- NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, National Institutes of Health, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877, USA
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54
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Iwai A. Properties of NACP/alpha-synuclein and its role in Alzheimer's disease. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 2000; 1502:95-109. [PMID: 10899435 DOI: 10.1016/s0925-4439(00)00036-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The precursor of the non-amyloid beta/A4 protein (non-Abeta) component of Alzheimer's disease amyloid (NACP)/alpha-synuclein is the human homologue of alpha-synuclein, a member of a protein family which includes alpha-, beta- and gamma-synuclein. This protein is thought to be involved in neuronal plasticity because of its unique expression, mainly in the telencephalon during maturation. Consequently, disarrangement of NACP/alpha-synuclein might disrupt synaptic activity, resulting in memory disturbance. Previous studies have shown that damage to synaptic terminals is closely associated with global cognitive impairment and is an early event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Although the relationship between synaptic damage and amyloidogenesis is not clear, some proteins at the synaptic site have been implicated in both neuronal alteration and amyloid formation. Indeed, abnormal accumulation of both NACP/alpha-synuclein and Abeta precursor protein occurs at synapses of Alzheimer's patients. Other evidence suggests that NACP/alpha-synuclein is a component of the Lewy bodies found in patients with Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies, and that a point mutation in this protein may be the cause of familial Parkinson's disease. Consequently, abnormal transport, metabolism or function of NACP/alpha-synuclein appears to impair synaptic function, which induces, at least in part, neuronal degeneration in several neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Iwai
- Neuroscience Research, Pharmacology Laboratories, Institute for Drug Discovery Research, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
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55
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Galvin JE, Uryu K, Lee VM, Trojanowski JQ. Axon pathology in Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia hippocampus contains alpha-, beta-, and gamma-synuclein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1999; 96:13450-5. [PMID: 10557341 PMCID: PMC23968 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.23.13450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 335] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Pathogenic alpha-synuclein (alphaS) gene mutations occur in rare familial Parkinson's disease (PD) kindreds, and wild-type alphaS is a major component of Lewy bodies (LBs) in sporadic PD, dementia with LBs (DLB), and the LB variant of Alzheimer's disease, but beta-synuclein (betaS) and gamma-synuclein (gammaS) have not yet been implicated in neurological disorders. Here we show that in PD and DLB, but not normal brains, antibodies to alphaS and betaS reveal novel presynaptic axon terminal pathology in the hippocampal dentate, hilar, and CA2/3 regions, whereas antibodies to gammaS detect previously unrecognized axonal spheroid-like lesions in the hippocampal dentate molecular layer. The aggregation of other synaptic proteins and synaptic vesicle-like structures in the alphaS- and betaS-labeled hilar dystrophic neurites suggests that synaptic dysfunction may result from these lesions. Our findings broaden the concept of neurodegenerative "synucleinopathies" by implicating betaS and gammaS, in addition to alphaS, in the onset/progression of PD and DLB.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E Galvin
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Hahnemann University, 245 North 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19129, USA
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56
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Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Lewy body disease (LBD) are the most common causes of dementia in the elderly population. Previous studies have shown that cognitive alterations in these disorders are associated with synaptic loss. Injury and loss of synapses might be associated with altered function of synaptic proteins. Among them, recent studies have shown that abnormal aggregation and accumulation of synaptic proteins, such as alpha-synuclein, might be associated with plaque formation in AD and Lewy body formation in LBD. Further reinforcing the hypothesis that alpha-synuclein plays a major role in the pathogenesis of these disorders, recent work has shown that mutations that alter the conformation of this molecule are associated with familial forms of Parkinson's disease. The mechanisms by which altered function or aggregation of alpha-synuclein might lead to neurodegeneration are not completely clear; however, new evidence points to a potential role for this molecule in synaptic damage and neurotoxicity via amyloid-like fibril formation and mitochondrial dysfunction. In this manuscript we review the data linking alpha-synuclein to the pathogenesis of AD and LBD.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Hashimoto
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla 92093-0624, USA
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57
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58
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Markopoulou K, Wszolek ZK, Pfeiffer RF, Chase BA. Reduced expression of the G209A alpha-synuclein allele in familial Parkinsonism. Ann Neurol 1999; 46:374-81. [PMID: 10482268 DOI: 10.1002/1531-8249(199909)46:3<374::aid-ana13>3.0.co;2-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Missense mutations at the alpha-synuclein gene have been associated with familial parkinsonism. We report that the phenotype of a kindred (Family H) with autosomal dominant, levodopa-responsive parkinsonism maps to chromosomal region 4q21-23 and that affected members of this kindred harbor a previously reported mutation (G209A) in exon 4 of the alpha-synuclein gene. We assessed the expression of the G209A allele in lymphoblastoid cell lines established from 12 individuals heterozygous for the G209A allele. The expression of this allele is either absent or significantly reduced in 7 affected heterozygotes and in 3 asymptomatic heterozygotes who are older than the mean age at disease diagnosis for their generation. In contrast, it is expressed in 1 affected and 1 unaffected heterozygote. The unaffected heterozygote is younger than the mean age at disease diagnosis for their generation. The lack of or significantly reduced expression of the G209A allele in affected heterozygotes suggests that the timing of reduced expression may be critical for disease onset. If so, the parkinsonian phenotype may arise from haploinsufficiency at the alpha-synuclein gene at a time point before symptom onset. In conclusion, reduced alpha-synuclein gene expression may be important in the pathogenesis of parkinsonism.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Markopoulou
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA
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59
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Athanassiadou A, Voutsinas G, Psiouri L, Leroy E, Polymeropoulos MH, Ilias A, Maniatis GM, Papapetropoulos T. Genetic analysis of families with Parkinson disease that carry the Ala53Thr mutation in the gene encoding alpha-synuclein. Am J Hum Genet 1999; 65:555-8. [PMID: 10417297 PMCID: PMC1377953 DOI: 10.1086/302486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION What is the role of genetic factors in the pathophysiology of idiopathic Parkinson's disease, one of the most frequent neurodegenerative disorders? In the past two years, identification of two genes and localization of a third one have supported the hypothesis that genetics factors are involved in idiopathic Parkinson's disease. We present arguments that support such hypothesis, and describe recent advances in genetic studies of idiopathic Parkinson's disease. CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND KEY POINTS The first gene identified on chromosome 4 encodes alpha-synuclein. It causes a rare form of autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease. A locus on the short arm of chromosome 2 was recently identified in families with autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease. More recently, the gene encoding Parkin (located on chromosome 6) has been described. It already appears to be an important locus for juvenile parkinsonism with autosomal recessive transmission. CONCLUSION We now have to understand how mutations in these genes lead to selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, and to determine whether or not they participate in the genetic susceptibility of idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Brassat
- Fédération de neurologie, hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
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61
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62
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Abstract
The synuclein gene family recently came into the spotlight, when one of its members, alpha-synuclein, was found to be mutated in several families with autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease (PD). A peptide of the alpha-synuclein protein had been characterized previously as a major component of amyloid plaques in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The mechanism by which this presynaptic protein is involved in the two most common neurodegenerative disorders, AD and PD, remains unclear. Remarkably, another member of this gene family, gamma-synuclein, has been shown to be overexpressed in breast carcinomas and may also be overexpressed in ovarian cancer. The possible involvement of the synuclein proteins in the etiology of common human diseases has raised exciting questions and is the subject of intense investigation. Details of the properties of any member of the synuclein family may provide useful information for understanding the characteristics and function of other family members. The present review offers a synopsis of the current state of knowledge of all synuclein family members in different species.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Lavedan
- Genetic Disease Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
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63
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Clayton DF, George JM. The synucleins: a family of proteins involved in synaptic function, plasticity, neurodegeneration and disease. Trends Neurosci 1998; 21:249-54. [PMID: 9641537 DOI: 10.1016/s0166-2236(97)01213-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 539] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Synuclein proteins are produced, in vertebrates, by three genes. They share structural resemblance to apolipoproteins, but are abundant in the neuronal cytosol and present in enriched amounts at presynaptic terminals. Synucleins have been specifically implicated in three diseases:Alzheimer's (AD), Parkinson's (PD) and breast cancer. In AD, a peptide derived from alpha-synuclein forms an intrinsic component of plaque amyloid. In PD, an alpha-synuclein allele is genetically linked to several independent familial cases, and the protein appears to accumulate in Lewy bodies. In breast cancer, increased expression of gamma-synuclein correlates with disease progression. In songbirds, alpha-synuclein expression is correlated with plasticity in the developing song control system. Although the normal function of synucleins is unknown, a role in membrane plasticity seems likely.
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Affiliation(s)
- D F Clayton
- Beckman Institute and Dept of Cell and Structural Biology, The University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA
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64
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Abstract
Lewy body formation is central to the pathological phenotype of a spectrum of disorders. The most familiar of these is the extrapyramidal syndrome of idiopathic Lewy-body Parkinson's disease (PD). Studies of dementia in the elderly suggest that another manifestation of Lewy body pathology is equally or more common than Parkinson's disease. This syndrome of Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) has been given a number of diagnostic labels and is characterised by dementia, relatively mild parkinsonism, visual hallucinations, and fluctuations in conscious level. Although many of these features can arise in Parkinson's disease, the patients with DLB tend to have early neuropsychiatric features which predominate the clinical picture, and the diagnosis of the syndrome in practice is more concerned with the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Distinction from AD has clinical importance because of potentially differing therapeutic implications. Diagnostic guidelines for the clinical diagnosis and pathological evaluation of DLB are reviewed. Research into the disorder has centered around characterising the clinical, neuropsychological, pathological, neurochemical and genetic relationships with Alzheimer's disease on the one hand, and Parkinson's disease on the other. Many cases of DLB have prominent pathological features of AD and there are some shared genetic risk factors. Differences from the pathology of PD are predominantly quantitative rather than qualitative and evidence is discussed which suggests that DLB represents a clinicopathological syndrome within the spectrum of Lewy body disorders. The possibility that the syndrome represents a chance association of PD and AD is not supported by published studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- P G Ince
- University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and Department of Neuropathology, Newcastle General Hospital, UK.
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65
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Brice
- The French Parkinson's Disease Genetics Study Group Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U289, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 47 boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France
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66
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Xia Y, Rohan de Silva HA, Rosi BL, Yamaoka LH, Rimmler JB, Pericak-Vance MA, Roses AD, Chen X, Masliah E, DeTeresa R, Iwai A, Sundsmo M, Thomas RG, Hofstetter CR, Gregory E, Hansen LA, Katzman R, Thal LJ, Saitoh T. Genetic studies in Alzheimer's disease with an NACP/alpha-synuclein polymorphism. Ann Neurol 1996; 40:207-15. [PMID: 8773602 DOI: 10.1002/ana.410400212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The non-Abeta component of Alzheimer's disease amyloid (NAC) is copurified with amyloid from the brain tissue of Alzheimer's disease victims and is immunohistochemically localized to amyloid fibrils. NAC is a hydrophobic peptide fragment from the NAC precursor protein (NACP/alpha-synuclein) that is localized to presynaptic terminals. We used a polymorphic dinucleotide repeat sequence in a genomic clone of NACP for genetic association and linkage studies. Screening of Alzheimer's disease families failed to establish linkage between NACP and Alzheimer's disease. Nevertheless, one of the NACP polymorphisms (NACP allele 2) was shown to have significant association with healthy elderly control individuals with apolipoprotein E risk. This may indicate a possible protective function of the allele.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Xia
- Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, UCSD, La Jolla, CA 92093-0949, USA
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67
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Hannequin D, Campion D, Brice A, Frebourg T, Martinez M, Clerget-Darpoux F, Agid Y. [Genetics of Alzheimer's disease]. Rev Med Interne 1996; 17:545-50. [PMID: 8881379 DOI: 10.1016/0248-8663(96)83090-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
This review reports the different genetic factors that have been identified either as risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) or directly causing the disease. First are reviewed epidemiological data and biological mechanisms about the apoplipoprotein E gene allele epsilon 4 that is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. The second part describes the mutations responsible for early-onset autosomal dominant AD found in three different genes. The gene located on chromosome 21 encodes the amyloid precusor protein (APP). The presenilin 1 and presenilin 2 genes, located on chromosome 14 and 1 respectively, encode not yet known membrane proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Hannequin
- Fédération de neurologie, CHU, Rouen, France
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68
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The Non-Amyloid-β Component of Alzheimer’s Disease Plaque Amyloid: Comparative Analysis Suggests a Normal Function as a Synaptic Plasticizer. NEURODEGENER DIS 1996. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4899-0209-2_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] Open
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