Braak staging concept and the role of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease

Hove, A. ten (2013) Braak staging concept and the role of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.

Preview	Text BachelorscriptieAnneketenhove.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview
	Text HoveAkkoordCopray.pdf - Other Restricted to Registered users only Download (29kB)

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is the most common movement disorder and one of the most frequent neurodegenerative diseases. The disease is characterized by postural imbalance, rest tremors, rigidity and bradykinesia. These symptoms are caused by selective neurodegeneration in the brain, particularly of the dopaminergic neurons located in the substantia nigra. The most prominent cytopathological hallmark is the presence of proteineous inclusions called Lewy Bodies with as main constituent alpha-synuclein aggregates. Although the cause of this selective neurodegeneration is still quite unclear, alpha-synuclein appears to play a role in that. Braak and colleagues suggest that alpha-synuclein acts in a prion-like manner and is capable of transferring between cells and is responsible for the spread of the pathology of Parkinson’s disease. According to them, the Lewy pathology spreads in a non-random manner, which starts in the brain stem and gradually spreads throughout the brain. In this review, the staging (according to Braak) of Parkinson pathology will be described and the role of alpha-syuclein in this pathology will be discussed in detail.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Degree programme:	Biology
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	15 Feb 2018 07:55
Last Modified:	15 Feb 2018 07:55
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/11504

Actions (login required)

View Item