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Updated: May 17, 2026

Analyzing the Parkinson's Disease Mouse Model Induced by Adeno-associated Viral Vectors Encoding Human α-Synuclein
Published on: July 29, 2022
Alpha-synuclein elicits glucose uptake and utilization in adipocytes through the Gab1/PI3K/Akt transduction pathway
Gerardo Rodriguez-Araujo1, Hironori Nakagami, Hiroki Hayashi
1Division of Gene Therapy Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. gerardaraujo_@hotmail.com
Abstract:
Insulin is the main glucoregulator that promotes the uptake of glucose by tissues and the subsequent utilization of glucose as an energy source. In this paper, we describe a novel glucoregulator, the alpha-synuclein (SNCA) protein, that has previously been linked to Parkinson's disease. Treatment with recombinant SNCA promotes glucose uptake in vitro in preadipocytes and in vivo in the adipose tissues and skeletal muscles of mice through the LPAR2/Gab1/PI3K/Akt pathway; these effects occur independently of the insulin receptor. This function of SNCA represents a new mechanistic insight that creates novel avenues of research with respect to the process of glucose regulation.
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