Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0030567 (Parkinson's disease)
 63,064 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

alpha-Synuclein is an abundant highly charged protein that is normally predominantly localized around synaptic vesicles in presynaptic terminals. Although the function of this protein is still ill-defined, genetic studies have demonstrated that point mutations or genetic alteration (duplications or triplications) that increase the number of copies of the alpha-synuclein (SCNA) gene can cause Parkinson's disease or the related disorder dementia with Lewy bodies. alpha-Synuclein can aberrantly polymerize into fibrils with typical amyloid properties, and these fibrils are the major component of many types of pathological inclusions, including Lewy bodies, which are associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. Although there is substantial evidence supporting the toxic nature of alpha-synuclein inclusions, other modes of toxicity such as oligomers have been proposed. In this review, some of the evidence for the different mechanisms of alpha-synuclein toxicity is presented and discussed.
 ...
PMID:Molecular mechanisms of alpha-synuclein neurodegeneration. 1895 33

Alpha-synuclein is a small, highly charged protein encoded by the synuclein or SNCA gene that is predominantly expressed in central nervous system neurons. Although its physiological function remains enigmatic, alpha-synuclein is implicated in movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, and in neurodegenerative diseases such as Dementia with Lewy bodies. Here we have focused on reviewing the existing literature pertaining to wild-type alpha-synuclein structure, its properties, and its potential involvement in regulation of dopamine neurotransmission.
 ...
PMID:Alpha-synuclein modulates dopamine neurotransmission. 2733 3