Abstract: It is demonstrated that alpha synculein toxicity such as ?-synuclein mediated cell death, and alpha synuclein induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a cell requires proapoptotic endonuclease G and that the deletion of the endonuclease G or suppressing of the endonuclease G apoptotic pathway attenuates or counteracts such alpha synuclein toxicity. In view of these observations, compositions and methods for inhibition of ?-synuclein toxicity are provided. The inhibiting ?-synuclein toxicity can be used in methods for the treatment of synucleinopathies, such as Parkinsons disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), pure autonomic failure (PAF), and multiple system atroypy (MSA) and the manufacture of medicaments for such treatment.

Abstract: Present inventions demonstrates that alpha synuclein toxicity such as ?-synuclein mediated cell death, alpha synuclein induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a cell requires the proapoptotic endonuclease G and that the deletion of the endonuclease G or suppressing of the endonuclease G apoptotic pathway attenuates or counteracts such alpha synuclein toxicity. The present invention compositions and methods for inhibition of ?-synuclein toxicity. The inhibiting ?-synuclein toxicity can be used in methods of treatment of synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), pure autonomic failure (PAF), and multiple system atrophy (MSA) and the manufacture of medicaments for such treatment.

Abstract: The invention involves a method of stereotactic and viral vector-mediated gene transfer to produce animals harboring in their neural tissue a polynucleotide sequence, an allelic variant, minigene or a homolog thereof, that encodes for &agr;-synuclein or functional homnologues thereof and overexpresses ccsynuclein or functional homologues thereof locoregional in said neural tissue. Overexpression of &agr;-synuclein is associated with locoregional pathology in the neural tissue as evidenced by histology and neurodegeneration as evidenced by histology. These animals can be used in pharmaceutical screening and for in vivo modelling of &agr;-synuclein biochemistry.