Parkinson's Disease : Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 and Autophagy, Intimate Enemies

Abstract EN

Parkinson's disease is the second common neurodegenerative disorder, after Alzheimer's disease.

It is a clinical syndrome characterized by loss of dopamine-generating cells in the substancia nigra, a region of the midbrain.

The etiology of Parkinson's disease has long been through to involve both genetic and environmental factors.

Mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 gene cause late-onset Parkinson's disease with a clinical appearance indistinguishable from Parkinson's disease idiopathic.

Autophagy is an intracellular catabolic mechanism whereby a cell recycles or degrades damage proteins and cytoplasmic organelles.

This degradative process has been associated with cellular dysfunction in neurodegenerative processes including Parkinson's disease.

We discuss the role of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 in autophagy, and how the deregulations of this degradative mechanism in cells can be implicated in the Parkinson's disease etiology.