Total and proteinase K-resistant α-synuclein levels in erythrocytes, determined by their ability to bind phospholipids, associate with parkinson's disease

Suaad Abd-Elhadi, Asaf Honig, Dganit Simhi-Haham, Meir Schechter, Eduard Linetsky, Tamir Ben-Hur, Ronit Sharon*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

A marker for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD), which reflects on the occurrence of peripheral pathogenic mechanisms, would potentially improve therapy. The significance of α-Synuclein (α-Syn) expression in red blood cells (RBC) is currently unclear. Here we investigated whether RBC's-expressed α-Syn may associate with PD. To this aim, we determined the levels of total and proteinase K-resistant α-Syn in samples of packed red blood cells (PRBCs). Twenty-one individuals with PD at various disease stages and 15 healthy controls, with similar demographic features, were recruited to this study. α-Syn levels were determined by their biochemical property to bind phospholipids, using a phospholipid-ELISA assay. A significantly lower ratio of total-to-proteinase K-resistant α-Syn levels was detected in PD patients than in the healthy control group. However, there was considerable overlap between the two groups. Suggesting a need for additional markers to be tested in combination with α-Syn levels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence for an association between RBCs-expressed α-Syn and pathogenic mechanisms involved in PD.

Original languageEnglish
Article number11120
JournalScientific Reports
Volume5
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Jun 2015

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