title: NEURODEGENERATION. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases: The prion concept in relation to assembled Aβ, tau, and α-synuclein.
abstract: The pathological assembly of Aβ, tau, and α-synuclein is at the heart of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Extracellular deposits of Aβ and intraneuronal tau inclusions define Alzheimer's disease, whereas intracellular inclusions of α-synuclein make up the Lewy pathology of Parkinson's disease. Most cases of disease are sporadic, but some are inherited in a dominant manner. Mutations frequently occur in the genes encoding Aβ, tau, and α-synuclein. Overexpression of these mutant proteins can give rise to disease-associated phenotypes. Protein assembly begins in specific regions of the brain during the process of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, from where it spreads to other areas.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Medical Research Council, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK. mg@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goedert
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C545487:APP protein, human; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; C054369:MAPT protein, human; C512656:PRNP protein, human; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions; C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D016875:tau Proteins