Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons due to an accumulation of intraneuronal abnormal alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) protein aggregates. It has been reported that the levels of exosomal alpha-syn of neuronal origin in plasma correlate significantly with motor dysfunction, highlighting the exosomes containing alpha-syn as a potential biomarker of PD. In addition, it has been found that the selective autophagy-lysosomal pathway (ALP) contributes to the secretion of misfolded proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we describe the evidence that supports the relationship between the ALP and alpha-syn exosomal secretion on the PD progression and its implications in the diagnosis and progression of this pathology.