The Systemic Synuclein Sampling Study: toward a biomarker for Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Biomarkers in medicine Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 359 - 368
• Main Authors: Visanji, Naomi P, Mollenhauer, Brit, Beach, Thomas G, Adler, Charles H, Coffey, Christopher S, Kopil, Catherine M, Dave, Kuldip D, Foroud, Tatiana, Chahine, Lana, Jennings, Danna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Future Medicine Ltd 01.04.2017
• Subjects: Aged; alpha-Synuclein - analysis; alpha-Synuclein - blood; alpha-Synuclein - cerebrospinal fluid; Autopsy; biofluid; biomarker; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - analysis; Biomarkers - blood; Biomarkers - cerebrospinal fluid; Biopsy; Blood; Case-Control Studies; Colon - metabolism; Colon - pathology; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins - metabolism; Dopamine receptors; Humans; Medical research; Middle Aged; Movement disorders; Nervous system; Neurodegenerative diseases; Parkinson Disease - diagnosis; Parkinson Disease - pathology; Parkinson's disease; Pathology; Sampling; Skin; Skin - metabolism; Skin - pathology; Submandibular Gland - metabolism; Submandibular Gland - pathology; Synuclein; tissue; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; α-synuclein; biofluid; tissue; Parkinson's disease; biomarker; α-synuclein
• ISSN: 1752-0363; 1752-0371; 1752-0371
• DOI: 10.2217/bmm-2016-0366

The search for a biomarker for Parkinson's disease (PD) has led to a surge in literature describing peripheral α-synuclein (aSyn) in both biofluids and biopsy/autopsy tissues. Despite encouraging results, attempts to capitalize on this promise have fallen woefully short. The Systemic Synuclein Sampling Study (S4) is uniquely designed to identify a reproducible diagnostic and progression biomarker for PD. S4 will evaluate aSyn in multiple tissues and biofluids within the same subject and across the disease spectrum to identify the optimal biomarker source and provide vital information on the evolution of peripheral aSyn throughout the disease. Additionally, S4 will correlate the systemic aSyn profile with an objective measure of nigrostriatal dopaminergic function furthering our understanding of the pathophysiological progression of PD.