Shu G Chen
Synucleinopathies such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are characterized by the deposition of misfolded protein aggregates consisted of alpha-synuclein in the central nervous system (CNS). Previous efforts have focused on the development of CNS-proximal clinical biomarkers, including cerebrospinal fluid measures of alpha-synuclein, and tau. However, these diagnostic techniques are often used in clinical studies on patients with advanced disease state, and are invasive. Therefore, there remains an urgent need for reliable, inexpensive and minimally invasive peripheral biomarkers. Recent studies have revealed widespread peripheral involvement of Lewy bodylike pathology, often prior to clinical manifestations of the diseases. Indeed, alpha-synuclein deposits have been observed in peripheral tissues in PD and DLB. A formidable challenge is that the levels of the amyloidogenic protein aggregates in peripheral tissues are extremely low and thus only variably detectable using immunological methods
Published Date: 2021-12-29;
