ABSTRACT
Neurodegenerative diseases are a complex group of neurological disorders that present a common hallmark: the selective death of circumscribed groups of neu rons. In accord, Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by a massive loss of melanized dopaminergic neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra with a significant reduction of the striatal dopamine (DA) content (1) (Fig. 1). Cell death should be related to the activation of proapoptotic pathways.
