[HT-01] α-Synuclein and beyond: Find out the true culprit causing neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease!

[HT-01-2] α-Synucleinからはじまる神経毒性メカニズム

菅野 直人 (東北大学病院 神経内科)

α-Synuclein is a primary component of Lewy bodies, and mutations / overexpression of it cause Parkinson’s disease (PD). Besides, Braak and colleagues identified Lewy pathologies, namely α-synuclein deposition, in various regions of human brains, and demonstrated the temporal sequence of α-synuclein pathologies that emerge in the brains of PD. However, the relationship between α-synuclein deposition and neuronal dysfunction / neuronal death and underlying mechanisms connecting them are still unclear. Is α-synuclein a true culprit of neurodegeneration in PD? If so, what are the precise molecular mechanisms involved with the neurotoxicity of α-synuclein? What other factors contribute to neurodegeneration in PD? Now it is high time that we should know the details molecular mechanisms involved with neurodegeneration in PD. Does α-Synuclein itself cause neurodegeneration or need other factors, namely α-synuclein and beyond?

Academic Education and Formal Practice
March 2001 M.D., Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine
Japanese Medical License Registration
March 2008 Ph.D. (Medical Science), Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Doctoral Dissertation Study: Serine 129 phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein induces unfolded protein response-mediated cell death
April 2011 Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Tohoku University
April 2014 Guest scientist, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tuebingen, Germany
October 2016-present Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Tohoku University