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Parkinson 's Disease ( Pd )

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Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by aberrant α-synuclein aggregates within neurons causing damage or neuronal death in different regions of the brain with most disease development occurring in the substantia nigra (NIH.PARK). α-synuclein positive Lewy bodies are another hallmark of PD development (NIH.PARK). Damage or death of neurons leads to a decrease in dopamine production which is required for smooth control of muscle movement (NIH.PARK2, NIH.PARK). Clinically presenting symptoms manifest over time and are characterized by muscle rigidity, tremors and delayed movement however, cognitive changes have also been observed (NIH.PARK2, NIH.PARK). Almost all cases of PD develop sporadically with a small …show more content…

Brain tissue analysis from human subjects displayed that all brains contained phosphorylated α-synuclein (monomers and oligomers) with obvious glial cytoplasmic inclusions in MSA subjects and neuron based inclusions for iLBD subjects like PD or Lewy body dementia (Bernis et al, 2015). Further examination of the phosphorylated α-synuclein species from the affected patients displayed detergent insolubility compared to normal controls (Bernis et al, 2015). No outward phenotypic expression of either MSA or iLBD were visible in the mice for the nine-month period post injection (Bernis et al, 2015). In the transgenic overexpression of human α-synuclein mouse group phosphorylated α-synuclein inclusion bodies were first observed within neurons at the six-month period following injection of cortical homogenates from both MSA and iLBD groups (Bernis et al, 2015). Inclusion bodies were observed primarily on the brain hemisphere associated with the injection site with a small amount of aggregation occurring on the opposite hemisphere (Bernis et al, 2015). Affected regions of the brain expanded to include the rostral and caudal regions of the brain and equal distribution in both brain hemispheres at the nine-month period (Bernis et al, 2015). Aggregates of phosphorylated α-synuclein were primarily housed within the soma of neurons however, a few aggregates were found in glial cells (astrocytes and microglia) (Bernis et al, 2015). Additional staining of

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