Auluck, P.K., Chan, H.Y., Trojanowski, J.Q., Lee, V.M.Y., Bonini, N.M. (2002). Chaperone suppression of alpha-synuclein toxicity in a Drosophila model for Parkinson's disease. Science 295(5556): 865--868.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0145222
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Dopaminergic neuronal loss also occurs in Drosophila melanogaster upon directed expression of alpha-synuclein, a protein implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease and a major component of proteinaceous Lewy bodies. We report that directed expression of the molecular chaperone Hsp70 prevented dopaminergic neuronal loss associated with alpha-synuclein in Drosophila and that interference with endogenous chaperone activity accelerated alpha-synuclein toxicity. Furthermore, Lewy bodies in human postmortem tissue immunostained for molecular chaperones, also suggesting that chaperones may play a role in Parkinson's disease progression.
