The native form of α-synuclein is not found in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Parkinson's disease or normal controls

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 1998-08, Vol.253 (1), p.13-16
• Main Authors: Jakowec, M.W, Petzinger, G.M, Sastry, S, Donaldson, D.M, McCormack, A, Langston, J.W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alpha-Synuclein; Alzheimer's disease; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Western; Brain Chemistry; Cerebrospinal fluid; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Humans; Medical sciences; Molecular Weight; NACP; Nerve Tissue Proteins - biosynthesis; Nerve Tissue Proteins - cerebrospinal fluid; Nerve Tissue Proteins - chemistry; Neurology; Non-A β amyloid; Parkinson Disease - cerebrospinal fluid; Parkinson Disease - metabolism; Phosphoproteins - cerebrospinal fluid; Reference Values; Synucleins; Western immunoblotting
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3940(98)00599-0

α-Synuclein has recently been shown to be a major constituent of Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease (PD). This observation led us to investigate the possibility that its detection in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could be used as a marker for Lewy bodies in the central nervous system. In this study we determined the pattern of expression of α-synuclein in patients with sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD) and normal controls, using western immunoblotting in conjunction with an antibody that recognizes the carboxyl terminal of α-synuclein protein. The native 19 kDa band normally seen in brain homogenates was not found in the CSF of either parkinsonian patients or control subjects. However, a novel band was observed, which migrated at a position in the range of 42 kDa in CSF from both patients and controls. We conclude that α-synuclein cannot be used as a biomarker for Lewy bodies during life. However, further characterization of the 42 kDa protein may be of interest.