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Updated: May 19, 2026

Assays for the Degradation of Misfolded Proteins in Cells
Published on: August 28, 2016
Molecular chaperones, α-synuclein, and neurodegeneration
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, USA. switt1@lsuhsc.edu
Abstract:
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a devastating neurological condition that affects about 1 % of people older than 65 years of age. In PD, dopaminergic neurons in the mid-brain slowly accumulate cytoplasmic inclusions (Lewy bodies, LBs) of the protein alpha-synuclein (α-syn) and then gradually lose function and die off. Cell death is thought to be causally linked to the aggregation/fibrillization of α-syn. This review focuses on new findings about the structure of α-syn, about how α-syn cooperates with Hsp70 and Hsp40 chaperones to promote neurotransmitter release, and about cell-to-cell transfer of pathogenic forms of α-syn and how Hsp70 might protect against this disease process.
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