Transcriptional differences in putaminal tissue of individual MSA-P and PD cases

Aim of the study: Multiple system atrophy (MSA), an apparantly sporadic neurodegenerative disorder of unknown etiology, can be subdivided clinically in MSA-P with predominant parkinsonian features and MSA-C with predominant cerebellar dysfunction. Patients with MSA-P, like Parkinson's disease (PD) patients suffer from dopaminergic denervation of the putamen. In addition, nerve cell loss and alpha-synuclein positive protein aggregates (glial cytoplasmic inclusions) are found in the MSA-P putamen. To identify putative disease related or disease modifying transcriptional differences between MSA-P and PD we performe…