Genes, proteins, and neurotoxins involved in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder. The etiology of PD is likely due to combinations of environmental and genetic factors. In addition to the loss of neurons, including dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, a further morphologic hallmark of PD is the presence of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites. The formation of these proteinaceous inclusions involves interaction of several proteins, including alpha-synuclein, synphilin-1, parkin and UCH-L1. Animal models allow to get insight into the mechanisms of several symptoms of PD, allow investigating new therapeutic strategies and, in addition, provide an indispensable tool for basic research. In animals PD does not arise spontaneously, thus, characteristic and specific functional changes have to be mimicked by application of neurotoxic agents or by genetic manipulations. In this review we will focus on genes and gene loci involved in PD, the functions of proteins involved in the formation of cytoplasmatic inclusions, their interactions, and their possible role in PD. In addition, we will review the current animal models of PD.