Fatty acid balance regulates α-synuclein pathology

Abstract

A recent study by Tripathi et al. used a protein engineering approach to demonstrate that cellular stress caused by familial α-synuclein mutations can be alleviated by altering the monounsaturated fatty acid equilibrium in neuronal cells. This work supports the notion that metabolic perturbation of lipids may be involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; aggregation-prone proteins; cellular membrane; monounsaturated fatty acid; α-synuclein.