MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES FOR PRECLINICAL RESEARCH IN PARKINSONS DISEASE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The presentation of clinical symptoms of PD occurs when striatal dopamine levels decrease by 50% and 80% of dopaminergic (DA) neurons within the substantia nigra have degenerated (Marsden 1990). Lewy body formations, a hallmark feature of PD neuropathology, are found in several areas of the brain including the substantia nigra. Aggregates of [alpha]-synuclein ([alpha]-SYN) are found within Lewy Bodies (Spillantini et al. 1997; Wakabayashi et al. 1997), which suggests a role for [alpha]-SYN in PD. Dr. Masliah and colleages at UC San Diego was among the first to characterize [alpha]-SYN while working on Alzheimers disease (Iwai et al. 1995; Masliah et al. 1996).