Impact of high cholesterol in a Parkinson's disease model: Prevention of lysosomal leakage versus stimulation of α-synuclein aggregation.

Parkinson's disease is characterized by accumulation of intraneuronal cytoplasmic inclusions, Lewy bodies, which mainly consist of aggregated α-synuclein. Controversies exist as to whether high blood cholesterol is a risk factor for the development of the disease and whether statin treatment could have a protective effect. Using a model system of BE(2)-M17 neuroblastoma cells treated with the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP), we found that MPP-induced cell death was accompanied by cholesterol accumulation in a lysosomal-like pattern in pre-apoptotic cells.