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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Sequential Extraction of Soluble and Insoluble Alpha-Synuclein from Parkinsonian Brains
Published on: January 5, 2016
Filamentous alpha-synuclein inclusions link multiple system atrophy with Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy
M G Spillantini1, R A Crowther, R Jakes
1MRC Centre for Brain Repair and Department of Neurology, University of Cambridge, UK.
Abstract:
Alpha-synuclein forms the major component of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, the defining neuropathological characteristics of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Here we show that alpha-synuclein is also the major component of the filamentous inclusions of multiple system atrophy which comprises several neurodegenerative diseases with a shared filamentous pathology in nerve cells and glial cells. These findings provide an unexpected link between multiple system atrophy and Lewy body disorders and establish that alpha-synucleinopathies constitute a major class of human neurodegenerative disorder.
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