Accumulation of Insoluble α-Synuclein in Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Abstract

The α-synuclein (αSN) protein is thought to play a central role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases where it aggregates to form intracellular inclusions. We have used Western blotting to examine the expression levels and solubility of αSN in brain homogenates from dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and normal controls using samples from the parahippocampus/transentorhinal cortex. Compared to controls, DLB brains accumulate significantly greater amounts of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-soluble and SDS-insoluble αSN but levels of TBS-soluble αSN did not change. Levels of synaptophysin, a marker of synaptic integrity, were significantly lower in DLB cases than in normal aged controls regardless of whether concurrent changes of AD were present. This limbic synaptic dysfunction may contribute to cognitive impairment in DLB. Whether aggregated αSN is a cause or effect of the disease process in DLB and PD remains to be determined, but the presence of aggregated αSN is consistent with a pathogenesis similar to that associated with aggregates of Aβ amyloid in AD.