Brain protein oxidation in age-related neurodegenerative disorders that are associated with aggregated proteins

Protein oxidation, one of a number of brain biomarkers of oxidative stress, is increased in several age-related neurodegenerative disorders or animal models thereof, including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, prion disorders, such as Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, and α-synuclein disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Each of these neurodegenerative disorders is associated with aggregated proteins in brain. However, the relationship among protein oxidation, protein aggregation, and neurodegeneration remain unclear. The current rapid progress in elucidation of mechanisms of protein oxidation in neuronal loss should provide further insight into the importance of free radical oxidative stress in these neurodegenerative disorders.