No apparent transmission of transgenic α-synuclein into nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in multiple mouse models

Background α–synuclein (α–syn) is the main component of intracytoplasmic inclusions deposited in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and certain other neurodegenerative disorders. Recent studies have explored the ability of α–syn to propagate between or across neighboring neurons and supposedly “infect” them with a prion–like mechanism. However, much of this research has used stereotaxic injections of heterologous α–syn fibrils to induce the spreading of inclusions in the rodent brains. Whether α–syn is able to transmit from the host cells to their neighboring cells in vivo is unclear.