Alpha-Synuclein (SNCA) is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (1,2). It is a cytoplasmic protein that is predominantly expressed in the central nervous system (2). SNCA reduces neuronal responsiveness to various apoptotic stimuli, leading to the decreased caspase-3 activation. SNCA may be involved in the regulation of dopamine release and transport and induces fibrillization of microtubule-associated protein tau (3). Defects in SNCA are associated with familial Parkinson’s disease (4,5).1) Ueda K, Fukushima H, Masliah E, et al. Molecular cloning of cDNA encoding an unrecognized component of amyloid in Alzheimer disease. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1993; 90:11282-6.
					
More