In 2017, it was two hundred years since James Parkinson
published “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy” and twenty years since
α-synuclein aggregation came to the fore. In 1998, multiple system
atrophy joined Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies
as the third major synucleinopathy. Here we describe the work,
which led to the identification of α-synuclein in Lewy bodies, Lewy
neurites and Papp-Lantos bodies. We also review some of the
findings reported since 1997.MGS is supported by the UK Medical Research Council, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Gates International, Astra Zeneca, Cambridge Biomedical Centre, Addenbrooke’s Hospital Trust, the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research and Horizon 2020 IMPRiND. MG is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences of the University of Cambridge. He is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_U105184291), the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research and Horizon 2020 IMPRiND
