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Characterizing Galectin And Lysosomal Rupture's Role In Spreading Parkinson Disease Pathology, Kevin Burbidge

Dissertations

The misfolding and subsequent accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is central to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Several lines of evidence suggest pathological α-syn spread cell-to-cell via a "prion-like" mechanism. Furthermore, this pathological α-syn is capable of "seeding" further misfolding of non-pathological α-syn, converting them to the pathological form. While a vast body of both genetic and experimental evidence indicates that α-syn is critical to PD development, how α-syn induces progressive neuronal dysfunction and cell death remains unclear.Autophagy, conventional for macroautophagy, is the primary degradation pathway for α-syn aggregates. Autophagy also influences the unconventional secretion of both pathological and non-pathological …