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Review
. 2019 Aug:59:115-120.
doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2019.07.004. Epub 2019 Aug 17.

Roles for the adaptive immune system in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases

Cecilia S Lindestam Arlehamn  1 , Francesca Garretti  2 , David Sulzer  3 , Alessandro Sette  4
Affiliations
Review

Roles for the adaptive immune system in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases

Cecilia S Lindestam Arlehamn et al. Curr Opin Immunol. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, affect millions of people and pose major personal and socioeconomic burdens. The causes of neurodegeneration are mostly unknown, although current efforts have described an autoimmune aspect to these diseases. Here we discuss recent findings that shed light on the involvement of the adaptive immune system in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and provide a model and outlook for further investigation of T cell responses in neurodegenerative disease. We focus on the identification of T cell epitopes from proteins involved in disease pathogenesis and describe the identification of α-synuclein-specific epitopes in Parkinson's disease which provided a crucial link between disease susceptibility and T cell recognition.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations of interest: none.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Aggregated and misfolded proteins are internalized by microglia and other immune cells which leads to T cell activation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    2. •• First report of α-syn-derived T cell epitopes preferentially recognized by individuals with PD and displayed by MHC alleles that are associated with PD.

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