Changyoun Kim, Alexandria Beilina, Nathan Smith, Yan Li, Minhyung Kim, Ravindran Kumaran, Alice Kaganovich, Adamantios Mamais, Anthony Adame, Michiyo Iba, Somin Kwon, Won-Jae Lee, Soo-Jean Shin, Robert A Rissman, Sungyong You, Seung-Jae Lee, Andrew B Singleton, Mark R Cookson, Eliezer Masliah
Synucleinopathies are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by abnormal α-synuclein deposition that include Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. The pathology of these conditions also includes neuronal loss and neuroinflammation. Neuron-released α-synuclein has been shown to induce neurotoxic, proinflammatory microglial responses through Toll-like receptor 2, but the molecular mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Here, we show that leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) plays a critical role in the activation of microglia by extracellular α-synuclein...
October 14, 2020: Science Translational Medicine