alpha-Synuclein protein is not scavenged in neuronal loss induced by kainic acid or focal ischemia

alpha -Synuclein, a presynaptic protein, is markedly included in Lewy bodie s (LB) in Parkinson's and LB diseases. In this study, neuronal loss and the activation of glial cells such as microglia and astrocytes: were induced b y neurodegenerative insults such as the injection of kainic acid and occlus ion of the middle cerebral artery. In contrast, immunoreactivity for alpha -synuclein did not change even at 7 days after these insults. These results suggest that alpha -synuclein protein may be so scarcely scavenged by glia l cells that it readily condenses in neurodegenerative regions. (C) 2001 El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.