alpha-Synuclein at the synaptic gate.
Only doubling or tripling alpha-synuclein expression significantly increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. In this issue of Neuron, Nemani et al. show that this modest overexpression of alpha-synuclein does not lead to obvious toxicity in the near term, but impairs glutamate and dopamine release, potentially leading to broad network dysfunction and eventual pathology.
Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. j-surmeier@northwestern.edu <j-surmeier@northwestern.edu>
D James
DJ
Surmeier
D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D020440:Gene Duplication; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D004298:Dopamine