Conditional transgenic mice expressing C-terminally truncated human alpha-synuclein (alphaSyn119) exhibit reduced striatal dopamine without loss of nigrostriatal pathway dopaminergic neurons.

Background: Missense mutations and multiplications of the alpha-synuclein gene cause autosomal dominant familial Parkinson's disease (PD). alpha-Synuclein protein is also a major component of Lewy bodies, the hallmark pathological inclusions of PD. Therefore, alpha-synuclein plays an important role in the pathogenesis of familial and sporadic PD.

Primary lymphoma of the central nervous system: a clinical-pathological and immunohistochemical study of ten autopsy cases.

Context: Primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSL) are a rare subgroup of lymphomas generally associated with HIV and EBV.

Objective: To study ten autopsy cases of PCNSL, to describe the neuropathological findings, to characterize the phenotype of the neoplastic cells, to detect EBV in the lesion and to compare the findings with the clinical and laboratory data of the patients.

Method: The clinical, histological and immunohistochemical data of ten cases of PCNSL, eight cases from patients with AIDS, identified among 265 autopsies of these patients were analyzed.