Parkinson's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Parkinson's Disease, including details on symptoms, treatment, genetics, medication.

alpha-synuclein from platelets is not phosphorylated at serine 129 in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy.

Shults CW, Barrett JM, Fontaine D

Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0662, USA. cshults@ucsd.edu

Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are characterized pathologically by inclusions in the brain containing alpha-synuclein, which is phosphorylated at serine 129. alpha-Synuclein is present not only in the brain but also in platelets; platelets have previously been used to study mitochondrial function in PD. We undertook to determine whether alpha-synuclein extracted from platelets of patients with PD and MSA is phosphorylated at serine 129 and could be used as a peripheral marker of these disorders. Immunoblots indicated that platelet alpha-synuclein is not phosphorylated at serine 129 in PD and MSA.

Published 15 August 2006 in Neurosci Lett, 405(3): 223-5.
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