Lewy body

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Lewy bodies.

Lewy bodies are abnormal aggregates of protein that develop inside nerve cells. They are identified under the microscope when histology is performed on the brain.

Lewy bodies appear as spherical masses that displace other cell components. There are two morphological types: classical (brain stem) Lewy bodies and cortical Lewy bodies. A classical Lewy body is an eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion that consists of a dense core surrounded by a halo of 10-nm wide radiating fibrils, the primary structural component of which is alpha-synuclein. In contrast, a cortical Lewy body is less well defined and lacks the halo. Nonetheless, it is still made up of alpha-synuclein fibrils.

Cell biology

A Lewy body is composed of the protein alpha-synuclein associated with other proteins such as ubiquitin,^[1] neurofilament protein, and alpha B crystallin.

It is believed that Lewy bodies represent an aggresome response in the cell.^[2]

See also

• Dementia with Lewy bodies

References

1. ^ Engelender S (April 2008). "Ubiquitination of alpha-synuclein and autophagy in Parkinson's disease". Autophagy 4 (3): 372–4. PMID 18216494. http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/auto/abstract.php?id=5604. 
2. ^ Tanaka M, Kim YM, Lee G, Junn E, Iwatsubo T, Mouradian MM (February 2004). "Aggresomes formed by alpha-synuclein and synphilin-1 are cytoprotective". J. Biol. Chem. 279 (6): 4625–31. doi:10.1074/jbc.M310994200. PMID 14627698. http://www.jbc.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=14627698. 

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