AUTHOR=Vieira Bruno Di Marco , Radford Rowan A. , Chung Roger S. , Guillemin Gilles J. , Pountney Dean L. 

TITLE=Neuroinflammation in Multiple System Atrophy: Response to and Cause of α-Synuclein Aggregation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncel.2015.00437

DOI=10.3389/fncel.2015.00437

ISSN=1662-5102

ABSTRACT=<p>Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease presenting with combinations of autonomic dysfunction, parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia and/or pyramidal signs. Oligodendroglial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs) rich in α-synuclein (α-syn) constitute the disease hallmark, accompanied by neuronal loss and activation of glial cells which indicate neuroinflammation. Recent studies demonstrate that α-syn may be released from degenerating neurons to mediate formation of abnormal inclusion bodies and to induce neuroinflammation which, interestingly, might also favor the formation of intracellular α-syn aggregates as a consequence of cytokine release and the shift to a pro-inflammatory environment. Here, we critically review the relationships between α-syn and astrocytic and microglial activation in MSA to explore the potential of therapeutics which target neuroinflammation.</p>