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Akt as a Victim, Villain and Potential Hero in Parkinson’s Disease Pathophysiology and Treatment

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Abstract

There are two major purposes of this essay. The first is to summarize existing evidence that irrespective of the initiating causes, neuron death and degeneration in Parkinson’s disease (PD) are due to the common feature of failure of signaling by Akt, a kinase involved in neuron survival and maintenance of synaptic contacts. The second is to consider possible means by which such a failure of Akt signaling might be benignly prevented or reversed in neurons affected by PD, so as to treat PD symptoms, block disease progression, and potentially, promote recovery.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by grants from the NIH-NINDS, American Parkinson’s Disease Association, and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630W. 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Lloyd A. Greene

  2. Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Oren Levy

  3. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, 08036, Catalonia, Spain

    Cristina Malagelada

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  1. Lloyd A. Greene
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  2. Oren Levy
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Correspondence to Lloyd A. Greene.

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Greene, L.A., Levy, O. & Malagelada, C. Akt as a Victim, Villain and Potential Hero in Parkinson’s Disease Pathophysiology and Treatment. Cell Mol Neurobiol 31, 969–978 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-011-9671-8

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