Alpha synuclein, the culprit in Parkinson disease, is required for normal immune function

Alpha-synuclein (aS) is causally involved in the development of Parkinson disease (PD); however, its role in normal vertebrate physiology has remained unknown. Recent studies demonstrate that aS is induced by noroviral infection in the enteric nervous system of children and protects mice against lethal neurotropic viral infection. Additionally, aS is a potent chemotactic activator of phagocytes. In this report, using both wild-type and aS knockout mice, we show that aS is a critical mediator of inflammatory and immune responses. aS is required for the development of a normal inflammatory response to bacterial peptidoglycan introduced into the peritoneal cavity as well as antigen-specific and T cell responses following intraperitoneal immunization. Furthermore, we show that neural cells are the sources of aS required for immune competence. Our report supports the hypothesis that aS accumulates within the nervous system of PD individuals because of an inflammatory/immune response. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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