Increased expression and redistribution of the antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-xL in Parkinson's disease

In the present study, we tried to clarify the potentially protective role of Bcl-X-L, an anti-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, in Parkinson's disease (1313). Using In situ hybridization on human postmortem mesencephalon sections, we show that in PD patients Bcl-X-L mRNA expression per dopaminergic neuron was almost double that of controls. We also show that, ultrastructurally, this effect may be mediated by a redistribution of BCl-X-L from the cytosol to the outer mitochondrial membrane. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).