research

Alpha-Synuclein-Specific Naturally Occurring Antibodies
Inhibit Aggregation In Vitro and In Vivo

A-Synuclein, Parkinson's Disease /

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with motor and non-motor symptoms and characterized by aggregates of alpha-synuclein (αSyn). Naturally occurring antibodies (nAbs) are part of theinnate immune system, produced without prior contact to their specific antigen, and polyreactive.The abundance of nAbs against αSyn is altered in patients with PD. In this work, we biophysicallycharacterized nAbs against […]

Alpha-Synuclein-Specific Naturally Occurring Antibodies
Inhibit Aggregation In Vitro and In Vivo Read More »

Cellular and Molecular Events Leading to Paraquat-Induced Apoptosis: Mechanistic Insights into Parkinson’s Disease Pathophysiology

A-Synuclein, Parkinson's Disease, Pesticides /

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the cardinal features of tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability, in addition to other non-motor symptoms. Pathologically, PD is attributed to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, with the hallmark of the presence of intracellular protein aggregates of α-synuclein in

Cellular and Molecular Events Leading to Paraquat-Induced Apoptosis: Mechanistic Insights into Parkinson’s Disease Pathophysiology Read More »

Bacteria-Derived Protein Aggregates Contribute to the Disruption of Host Proteostasis

A-Synuclein, Butyrate, Parkinson's Disease, Short Chain Fatty Acids /

Neurodegenerative protein conformational diseases are characterized by misfolding and aggregation of metastable proteins encoded within the host genome. The host is also home to thousands of proteins encoded within exogenous genomes harbored by bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Yet, their contributions to host protein-folding homeostasis, or proteostasis, remain elusive. Recent studies, including our previous work, suggest

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Alpha-synuclein as a Potential Biomarker for Parkinson’s Disease and Other
Synucleinopathies: Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities

A-Synuclein, Biomarkers /

Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disease,develops and progresses for 10-15 years before the clinical diagnostic symptoms of thedisease are manifested. Furthermore, several aspects of PD pathology overlap with otherneurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) linked to alpha-synuclein aggregation, also calledsynucleinopathies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover and validate earlydiagnostic and prognostic markersthat

Alpha-synuclein as a Potential Biomarker for Parkinson’s Disease and Other
Synucleinopathies: Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities Read More »

Periodontal inflammatory disease is associated with the risk of Parkinson’s disease: a population-based retrospective matched-cohort study

endondonics, Oral Microbiome, Parkinson's Disease /

Individuals exposed to PID were 1.431 times more likely to develop PD than those who were not exposed. However, future long-term, larger or national data sets combined with genes, environmental exposure, lifestyle changes, dietary habits, and accurately defined PD diagnosis should be investigated to support the current research results. CLICK TO REVIEW

Periodontal inflammatory disease is associated with the risk of Parkinson’s disease: a population-based retrospective matched-cohort study Read More »

Direct evidence of Parkinson pathology spread from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain in rats

A-Synuclein, Gut Permeability / Leaky Gut, Gut-Brain axis, Parkinson's Disease /

The cellular hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are the loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons and the formation of α-synuclein-enriched Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites in the remaining neurons. Based on the topographic distribution of Lewy bodies established after autopsy of brains from PD patients, Braak and coworkers hypothesized that Lewy pathology primes in the enteric

Direct evidence of Parkinson pathology spread from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain in rats Read More »

Short-Chain Fatty Acids Modulate Healthy Gut Microbiota Composition and Functional Potential

Biomarkers, Butyrate, Gut Dysbiosis, Gut Microbiota, Short Chain Fatty Acids /

Many studies have focused on the metabolic capacity of human gut microbiota to produce short-chain fatty acids and subsequent effects on host physiology. Given scarce data on how SCFAs produced by gut bacteria participate in cross-feeding to influence community structure and function, we evaluated the potential of SCFAs to modulate human gut microbiota in vitro.

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Relationships of Nutritional Factors and Agrochemical Exposure with Parkinson’s Disease in the Province of Brescia, Italy

A-Synuclein, Diet and Exercise, Gut Dysbiosis, Parkinson's Disease /

Environmental exposures to agrochemicals and nutritional factors may be associated with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). None of the studies to date has examined the combined effects of diet and agricultural chemical exposure together. To address these research gaps, we aimed to assess the association of nutritional factors and agrochemical exposure with the risk of PD. A

Relationships of Nutritional Factors and Agrochemical Exposure with Parkinson’s Disease in the Province of Brescia, Italy Read More »

ORAL BUTYRATE AND MICROBIOTA-TARGETED TREATMENTS FOR PARKINSON’S
DISEASE: EFFICACY STUDIES IN TRANSGENIC MICE.

A-Synuclein, Biomarkers, Butyrate, Gut Microbiota, Gut-Brain axis, Pre-PD, Probiotics, Prebiotics and Symbiotics /

Current pharmacological treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD) provide relief for motorsymptoms but fail to alleviate prevalent non-motor symptoms (NMS)- such as gastrointestinal(GI) dysfunction which often occurs before the development of motor symptoms. Strategies toslow the progression of PD have been proposed, but so far none has proven successful. PDpatients display changes in gut microbiome composition

ORAL BUTYRATE AND MICROBIOTA-TARGETED TREATMENTS FOR PARKINSON’S
DISEASE: EFFICACY STUDIES IN TRANSGENIC MICE. Read More »

Probiotic Bacillus subtilis
Protects against a-Synuclein
Aggregation in C. elegans

A-Synuclein, Butyrate, Gut Dysbiosis, Probiotics, Prebiotics and Symbiotics /

Recent discoveries have implicated the gut microbiome in the progression and severity of Parkinson’s disease; however, how gut bacteria affect such neurodegenerative disorders remains unclear. Here, we report that the Bacillus subtilis probiotic strain PXN21 inhibits a-synuclein aggregation and clears preformed aggregates in an established Caenorhabditis elegans model of synucleinopathy. This protection is seen in

Probiotic Bacillus subtilis
Protects against a-Synuclein
Aggregation in C. elegans Read More »