Synoretin - A new protein belonging to the synuclein family

alpha-Synuclein, a presynaptic nerve terminal protein, may be an important component of Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, recent genetic studies based on linkage analysis and cosegregation of A53T and A30P missense mutations demonstrated that the alpha-synuclein gene may be responsible for the development of at least some cases of familial Parkinson's disease. Despite intense interest in the members of the synuclein family, their function(s) and exact role in the diseases remained unknown. Here we describe a new member of the synuclein family, which we term synoretin, and show that it is expressed in different retinal cells, as well as in the brain, and it may affect the regulation of signal transduction through activation of the Elk1 pathway.