Pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a common adult‐onset neurodegenerative disorder whose pathogenesis remains essentially unknown. Currently, it is believed that the neurodegenerative process in Parkinson's disease is a combination of both cell‐autonomous and non‐cell‐autonomous mechanisms. Proposed cell‐autonomous mechanisms include alterations in mitochondrial bioenergetics, dysregulation of calcium homeostasis, and impaired turnover of mitochondria. As for the proposed non‐cell‐autonomous mechanisms, they involve prion‐like behavior of misfolded proteins and neuroinflammation. This suggests that cell death in Parkinson's disease is caused by a multifactorial cascade of pathogenic events and argues that effective neuroprotective therapy for Parkinson's disease may have to rely on multiple drug interventions. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society