There is much interest at the moment in the role of alpha-synuclein in the pathogenesis of PD. I thought it would be interesting to go through my posts, most of which were based on epidemiological evidence, and see if there were any evidence of an involvement of alpha-synuclein.

Acidic soils increase the amount of aluminium in food and water.

Ulversky, Li and Fink write [1]:
"We examined the effect of various metals on the kinetics of fibrillation of recombinant α-synuclein and in inducing conformational changes, as monitored by biophysical techniques. Several di- and trivalent metal ions caused significant accelerations in the rate of α-synuclein fibril formation. Aluminum was the most effective, along with copper(II), iron(III), cobalt(III), and manganese(II)."

tag johnt:alpha-synuclein

References:

[1] "Metal-triggered Structural Transformations, Aggregation, and Fibrillation of Human α-Synuclein
A POSSIBLE MOLECULAR LINK BETWEEN PARKINSON′S DISEASE AND HEAVY METAL EXPOSURE"
November 23, 2001 The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276, 44284-44296
Vladimir N. Uversky,Jie Li and Anthony L. Fink
http://www.jbc.org/content/276/47/44284.full

John