Parkinson's--Divergent Causes, Convergent Mechanisms

Abstract
Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which there is loss of dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway. Both genetic and environmental causes have been implicated. In their Perspective, [Greenamyre and Hastings][1] discuss the different possible causes of PD in light of new work identifying mutations in the putative mitochondrial protein kinase PINK1 as a cause of familial PD ([ Valente et al .][2]). [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/304/5674/1120 [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/304/5674/1158