Progress toward an integrated understanding of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease, affecting over 10 million individuals worldwide. While numerous effective symptomatic treatments are currently available, no curative or disease-modifying therapies exist. An integrated, comprehensive understanding of PD pathogenic mechanisms will likely address this unmet clinical need. Here, we highlight recent progress in PD research with an emphasis on promising translational findings, including (i) advances in our understanding of disease susceptibility, (ii) improved knowledge of cellular dysfunction, and (iii) insights into mechanisms of spread and propagation of PD pathology. We emphasize connections between these previously disparate strands of PD research and the development of an emerging systems-level understanding that will enable the next generation of PD therapeutics.

Keywords: PD; Parkinson's disease; Parkinson's disease genetics; neurodegenerative disorders; α-Synuclein.

Figure 1.. Putting the Parkinson’s disease (PD) puzzle together.

Three pieces of the “PD puzzle” covered in this short review are highlighted within the context of the brain. Additional elements remain to be fully elucidated. The integrated, systems-level understanding of PD that emerges from understanding how these components fit together will likely accelerate therapeutic advances. α-Syn, α-synuclein.