Long-lasting pathological consequences of overexpression-induced α-synuclein spreading in the rat brain.

ABSTRACT: Increased expression of α-synuclein can initiate its long-distance brain transfer, representing a potential mechanism for pathology spreading in age-related synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson's disease. In this study, the effects of overexpression-induced α-synuclein transfer were assessed over a 1-year period after injection of viral vectors carrying human α-synuclein DNA into the rat vagus nerve. This treatment causes targeted overexpression within neurons in the dorsal medulla oblongata and subsequent diffusion of the exogenous protein toward more rostral brain regions. Protein advancement and accumulation in pontine, midbrain, and forebrain areas were contingent upon continuous overexpression, because death of transduced medullary neurons resulted in cessation of spreading. Lack of s

SUBMITTER: Rusconi R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5847868 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature