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Vaccination Strategies in the Development of New Treatments for Parkinson's Disease Eliezer Masliah[4] discussed the development of therapies aimed at protecting synapses by regulating signaling pathways that might regulate the accumulation of alpha-synuclein aggregates at synaptic sites. Possible anti-parkinsonian compounds could include neurotrophic agents, vaccination, anti-aggregation compounds, neuroprotective compounds, and stem cell therapies. Alpha-synuclein oligomerization and membrane accumulation have received special attention as targets for immunotherapy. The early accumulation of alpha-synuclein from lysosomal failure develops polymers that create Lewy body inclusions. A monoclonal antibody against abnormal alpha-synuclein has been developed and used in transgenic mice. The mice were injected with recombinant full-length alpha-synuclein or fragments of alpha-synuclein or the monoclonal antibody against alpha-synuclein. The results showed decreased aggregation of alpha-synuclein in neuronal cell bodies and at synapses. The mice performed better on motor tasks. These results suggest that the anti-amyloid model of immunization may be applied to other neurodegenerative models. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn