title: Full length alpha-synuclein is present in cerebrospinal fluid from Parkinson's disease and normal subjects.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Anatomy, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Genova, via De Toni 14, 16132, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borghi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marchese
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Negro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Forloni
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zaccheo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abbruzzese
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tabaton
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein