Transmissible α-synuclein seeding activity in brain and stomach of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Cerebral deposition of abnormally aggregated α-synuclein (αSyn) is a neuropathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). PD-associated αSyn (αSyn) aggregates can act as proteinaceous nuclei ("seeds") able of self-templated propagation. Since this is strikingly reminiscent to properties of proteinaceous infectious particles (prions), lessons learned from prion diseases suggest to test whether transferred αSyn can propagate and induce neurological impairments or disease in a new host.