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

[HT-01-3] Hyperbranching axon as a structural template to explain focal and multifocal Lewy body disorders

Toshiki Uchihara^1,2 (1.Neurology with Neuromorphomics Laboratory, Nitobe Memorial Nakano General Hospital, Japan, 2.Department of Neurology and Neurological Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan)

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?

1976-82 Tokyo Medical and Dental University (MD)
1982-88 Clinical training in Internal Medicine and Neurology @ Okinawa Chubu Hospital, Musashino Red Cross Hospital & Asahi General Hospital
1988-90 Junior Researcher in Neuropathology @ Tokyo Instittute of Psychiatry
1990-97 Staff Neurologist, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital
Bursier du gouvernement francais @ Hôpital de la Salpêterière, Neuropathologie (1994-96)
1997-2011 PI of Neuropathology@Tokyo Metropolitan Institute fo Neuroscience
2011-18 Cheif, Structural Neuropathology@Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science
2018- Chief, Neurology with Neuromorphomics Lab@Nitobe-Memorial Nakano General Hosp
2018- Research Professor, Neurology and Neurological Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental Univ

Certificates: Neurology, General Internal Medicine, Dementia
Board Member: Acta Neuropathologica (2005- present), Acta Neuropathol Comm (2013-16)
Neuropathology (2010-)