Parkinsons disease: Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 and autophagy,intimate enemies

Parkinsons disease is the second common neurodegenerative disorder,after alzheimers 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 parkinsons disease has long been through to involve both genetic and environmental factors. mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 gene cause late-onset parkinsons disease with a clinical appearance indistinguishable from parkinsons 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 parkinsons 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 parkinsons disease etiology. © 2012 josé m. bravo-san pedro et al.