A critical review of the development and importance of proteinaceous aggregates in animal models of Parkinson's disease: new insights into Lewy body formation

Abstract

The pace of development of new animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD) has increased dramatically in the recent past, primarily because of the identification of the protein, α-synuclein, in Lewy bodies in both idiopathic and familial PD. This discovery has allowed the production of transgenic models that incorporate a form of human, mutant α-synuclein from rare familial cases, and has enabled the search for Lewy-body-like aggregations of this protein in toxin-induced models. Indeed, α-synuclein-positive inclusions, some of which bear strong resemblance to Lewy bodies, have now been recognized and their formation investigated in several different, environmentally-induced and transgenic models. Nevertheless, these data have yet to provide a uniform theory of inclusion pathogenesis for PD. The aim of this review is not only to summarize the findings to date on α-synuclein-immunopositive inclusion bodies, including some new information on Lewy bodies, but also provide a concise viewpoint on their origin and formation in animal models. We will provide evidence for a predicted series of intracellular events that underlie inclusion formation. Triggered by oxidative and metabolic stress, chronic, toxin-treated animals, rather than transgenic models transfected with human α-synuclein, eventually produce inclusion bodies that most closely resemble early stages of Lewy bodies. Elucidating the common mechanisms in animal models is a first step towards understanding the role of Lewy bodies and their formation in Parkinson's disease.