Alpha-synuclein inclusions are the distinctive trait of brain areas affected by neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). Nevertheless, PD is now considered as a multisystemic disorder, since alpha-synuclein pathology has been described also outside the central nervous system. In this regard, the early, non-motor autonomic symptoms point out an important role for the peripheral nervous system during disease progression. On this basis, we propose a review of the alpha-synuclein-related pathological processes observed at peripheral level in PD, starting from molecular mechanisms, through cellular processes to systemic modifications. We discuss their relevance in the etiopathogenesis of the disease, suggesting they are concurrent players in the development of PD, and that the periphery is an easily-accessible window to look at what is occurring in the central nervous system.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2802033 | DOI Listing |
Pain
February 2025
Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
Chronic pain is a pervasive and debilitating condition with increasing implications for public health, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Despite its high prevalence, the underlying neural mechanisms and pathophysiology remain only partly understood. Since its introduction 35 years ago, brain diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as a powerful tool to investigate changes in white matter microstructure and connectivity associated with chronic pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Norepinephrine in vertebrates and its invertebrate analog, octopamine, regulate the activity of neural circuits. We find that, when hungry, larvae switch activity in type II octopaminergic motor neurons (MNs) to high-frequency bursts, which coincide with locomotion-driving bursts in type I glutamatergic MNs that converge on the same muscles. Optical quantal analysis across hundreds of synapses simultaneously reveals that octopamine potentiates glutamate release by tonic type Ib MNs, but not phasic type Is MNs, and occurs via the G-coupled octopamine receptor (OAMB).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
Malignant gliomas are heterogeneous tumors, mostly incurable, arising in the central nervous system (CNS) driven by genetic, epigenetic, and metabolic aberrations. Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1/2) enzymes are predominantly found in low-grade gliomas and secondary high-grade gliomas, with IDH1 mutations being more prevalent. Mutant-IDH1/2 confers a gain-of-function activity that favors the conversion of a-ketoglutarate (α-KG) to the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG), resulting in an aberrant hypermethylation phenotype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) typically respond to light stimulation over their spatially restricted receptive field. Using large-scale recordings in the mouse retina, we show that a subset of non- direction-selective (DS) RGCs exhibit asymmetric activity, selective to motion direction, in response to a stimulus crossing an area far beyond the classic receptive field. The extraclassical response arises via inputs from an asymmetric distal zone and is enhanced by desensitization mechanisms and an inherent DS component, creating a network of neurons responding to motion toward the optic disc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Computational Radiology Laboratory, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115.
This study presents the construction of a comprehensive spatiotemporal atlas of white matter tracts in the fetal brain for every gestational week between 23 and 36 wk using diffusion MRI (dMRI). Our research leverages data collected from fetal MRI scans, capturing the dynamic changes in the brain's architecture and microstructure during this critical period. The atlas includes 60 distinct white matter tracts, including commissural, projection, and association fibers.
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