Role of FKBPs in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease among the elderly. While sporadic PD constitutes 99% of the cases, the remaining 1% is of genetic origin. The neuropathological hallmarks of PD are progressive degeneration of dopaminergic (DA) neurons and presence of Lewy neurites and Lewy bodies (LBs) intracytoplasmic proteinaceous inclusions that contain -synuclein (SYN), synphilin-1, components of the ubiquitin proteasomal pathway and parkin (Dawson, 2006). The loss of DA neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) results in decreased signalling in the striatum thereby giving rise to motor defects like resting tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and posture instability. Besides DA neuronal loss, microglial activation and increased astroglial and lymphocyte infiltration also occur in PD. A role for inflammation in PD has been inferred from the identification of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR positive reactive microglia in the brains of PD patients (McGeer et al., 1988). Additionally, levels of proinflammatory cytokines like IL-6, IL-1, TNF have been found to be elevated in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of PD patients (Nagatsu & Sawada, 2005; Dawson, 2006) Although these inflammatory components might serve as useful biomarkers, the aetiology of striatal DA degeneration still remains enigmatic. In the last decade, identification of mutations in several distinct genes (LRRK2, parkin, PINK1, DJ-1, -synuclein, MAPT, UCHL1 etc) linked to different forms of familial Parkinsonism has imparted a new direction to understanding PD pathogenesis (Tong & Shen, 2009). The question as to how seemingly divergent genes cause PD still remains unanswered, as there is no common molecular pathway involving these gene products. While parkin, -synuclein (SYN) and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) are functionally associated with the cellular ubiquitin proteasomal system (UPS), DJ-1 and PINK1 protect against oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. More recently, microarray analysis of SNpc from parkinsonian brain (Mandel et al., 2005) has shown that 68 genes related to protein degradation, signal transduction, dopaminergic transmission, iron transport and glycolysis are downregulated. Prominent among these are the protein chaperone HSC-70, subunits of the UPS and SKP1A, a member of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. Therefore, it is most likely that impairment in energy metabolism and/or alterations in UPS are the underlying mechanisms for PD pathogenesis (Eriksen et al., 2005; Mandel et al., 2005). Current PD treatment regimes can be divided into three categories: symptomatic, protective and restorative. Only symptomatic treatment via the administration of L-dopa and other