- 건국대학교

	A New Theory for the Progression of Parkinson’s Disease
	관리자		1332		2014.03.26

Prof. Seung-Jae Lee of the Dept. of Biomedical Science and Technology, Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University (KU), and his research team presented a review article on the theory that explains the onset and pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease in Nature Reviews Neurology, published online on Jan. 28, 2014 (Feb. 2014; Vol. 10, No. 2).
* Title of Article: "Extracellular α -synuclein: a novel and crucial factor of Lewy body diseases"
Putting together literature of about 60 articles published during the past several years, either by Prof. Lee's team or others, has led to a theory on the process of neurological disorders occurred by α-synuclein that is secreted by neurons in the brain. This review article was jointly written by Prof. He-Jin Lee (first author) and Dr. Eun-Jin Bae, and their work presented in the review was funded by the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning; the National Research Foundation of Korea; and the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. The review is expected to invigorate theories and studies on the practical application of brain diseases.
The research team's review article, which was based on the hypothesis that α-synuclein released by neuronal cells affects nearby cells, was a timely contribution since there is a strong need for a theory that can integrate various pathological phenomena, such as neuroinflammation and deposition of specific proteins, in the mechanism related to neuronal death. The review has presented a mechanism of neuronal cell death which is induced by the spreading of α-synuclein aggregates from the affected neurons to healthy neuronal cells. The researchers also offered an explanation for secondary stress imposed on neuronal cells due to the irritation caused by α-synuclein to inflammatory cells. These mechanisms suggest that extracellular α-synuclein can be the target of therapy, a possibility the research team studied through the immunotherapy of animal models targeting the protein. This achievement is significant as there lacks a concrete understanding of degenerative brain diseases which have become a social issue nowadays.
As for the implications of the review, Prof. Lee said, "We have presented the possibility of blocking the progression of illness based on the proposed mechanism. Thus far, the study has provided solid proof-of-principle results; however, the mechanism needs to be further validated in order to utilize the information for treatment purposes."
 
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Posted by Eun Jin Cho

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