Synphilin-1: generation of conditional knock-out mice

Synphilin-1 which was identified in yeast two-hybrid screens as an interacting partner of alpha-synuclein is a protein that is involved in the molecular pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Synphilin-1 is found in Lewy bodies in the brains of PD patients and it was shown to promote the formation of intracellular inclusions in cell culture where it co-localizes with alpha-synuclein. Additionally, a R621C mutation in the synphilin-1-gene was identified in two German PD patients. It is a substrate of parkin, dorfin and SIAH-1 and -2, all ubiquitin E3-ligases which are components of Lewy bodies. The neuronal ex…