Start date: 20241009
End date: 20241009
Location: IRCCS Fondazione Mondino, Pavia, Italy
This event is under the Patronage of the SINS
This year, Ottorino Rossi Award will be granted to Maria Grazia Spillantini, Professor of Molecular Neurology, University of Cambridge.
Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in our understanding of the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Current diagnostic criteria are based on clinical features, such as motor and non-motor symptoms, but would require post-mortem confirmation for definitive diagnosis. Indeed, accumulation of abnormal proteins characterizing the development and progression of the disease is a key feature of PD. While clinical diagnostic criteria are being reworked to allow for more accurate clinical characterization, even before the onset of motor symptoms, biological diagnostic criteria (i.e. biomarkers) are still lacking. In recent years, the fundamental role of alpha-synuclein (a-syn) has emerged as a key element in the pathogenesis of the disease. Preclinical studies conducted on different species, including primates and rodents, have demonstrated how different alterations in the protein structure of a-syn can compromise neuronal survival and therefore consequently the circuitry of the basal ganglia. Furthermore, clinical studies demonstrate the validity of measuring a-syn in body fluids and peripheral tissues. Through innovative techniques, the degree of accuracy of these measurements is progressively improving. This progress has relevant implications not only for improving diagnostic accuracy, allowing a faster diagnostic process, but also has a therapeutic implication, as the identification of the different role of altered a-syn species can provide the rational basis for the development of innovative therapies that may halt the progression of the disease.
