Full length alpha-synuclein is present in cerebrospinal fluid from Parkinson's disease and normal subjects.
Several clues suggest that alpha-synuclein, a presynaptic protein, plays a central role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). To search a peripheral marker of PD, we analyzed presence and amount of alpha-synuclein in CSF from 12 PD patients and 10 neurologically normal subjects. The protein was extracted from CSF samples through immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting with different specific anti-alpha-synuclein antibodies. We identified a 19 kDa band that corresponds to monomeric alpha-synuclein, given its comigration with homologue human recombinant peptide as well as with the protein extracted from cerebral cortex of normal subjects. The amount of CSF 19 kDa alpha-synuclein did not significantly vary in PD and normal cases. These findings have two implications: (a) full length alpha-synuclein is released by neurons in the extracellular space; (b) alpha-synuclein does not appear a peripheral marker of PD pathology.
Borghi
R
R
Institute of Human Anatomy, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Genova, via De Toni 14, 16132, Genova, Italy.
Marchese
R
R
Negro
A
A
Marinelli
L
L
Forloni
G
G
Zaccheo
D
D
Abbruzzese
G
G
Tabaton
M
M
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein
D015415:Biomarkers; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein