title: Akt as a victim, villain and potential hero in Parkinson's disease pathophysiology and treatment.
abstract: There are two major purposes of this essay. The first is to summarize existing evidence that irrespective of the initiating causes, neuron death and degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) are due to the common feature of failure of signaling by Akt, a kinase involved in neuron survival and maintenance of synaptic contacts. The second is to consider possible means by which such a failure of Akt signaling might be benignly prevented or reversed in neurons affected by PD, so as to treat PD symptoms, block disease progression, and potentially, promote recovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. lag3@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Lloyd A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: Oren
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malagelada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt