Alpha-Synuclein (aSyn) is a chameleon-like protein. Its overexpression and intracellular deposition defines neurodegenerative a-synucleinopathies including Parkinson’s disease. Whether aSyn upregulation is the cause or the protective reaction to a-synucleinopathies remains unresolved. Remarkably, the accumulation of aSyn is involved in cancer. Here, the neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line was genetically engineered to overexpress aSyn at low and at high levels. aSyn cytotoxicity was assessed by the MTT and vital-dye exclusion methods, observed at the beginning of the sub-culture of low-aSyn overexpressing neurons when cells can barely proliferate exponentially. | Overexpression of alpha-synuclein promotes both cell proliferation and cell toxicity in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells
