Veronica Testa

This study shows that α-synuclein aggregates cause mitochondrial damage and activate innate immunity, leading to neuron-microglia communication via TNTs and promoting disease progression in Synucleinopathies.

The paper shows that neuronal autophagy failure leads to α-synuclein aggregate transfer to microglia, which then degrade them more efficiently.

LRRK2 G2019S iPSC-derived microglia exposed to neuromelanin, but not α-synuclein fibrils, reduce healthy dopaminergic neuron numbers in co-culture; ivermectin prevents this, and post-mortem midbrain supports it.

This study identifies ceruloplasmin deficiency in mutant astrocytes as a driver of iron toxicity and neurodegeneration in a Parkinson's tri-culture model.