Yeast models of Parkinson's disease-associated molecular pathologies

The aging of the human population is resulting in an increase in the number of people afflicted by neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD), creating tremendous socio-economic challenges. This requires the urgent for the development of effective therapies, and of tools for early diagnosis of the disease. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying PD pathogenesis is still incomplete, hampering progress in those areas. In recent years, the progression made in genetics has considerably contributed to our knowledge, by identifying several novel PD genes. Furthermore, many cellular and animal models have proven their value to decipher pathways involved in PD development. In this review we highlight the value of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model for PD. This unicellular eukaryote has contributed to our understanding of the cellular mechanisms targeted by most important PD genes and offers an excellent tool for discovering novel players via powerful and informative high throughput screens that accelerate further validation in more complex models.