**Meet the editor**

Dr. Abdul Qayyum Rana is a Canadian neurologist who specializes in the field of Parkinson's disease and Movement Disorders. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. After completing his neurology residency training, Dr. Rana undertook a clinical fellowship in Parkinson's disease and Movement Disorders at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is currently the director of the Parkinson's Clinic of Eastern Toronto and Movement Disorders Centre located in Toronto, Canada. He is also founder of World Parkinson's Education Program. He is the author of "Frequently Asked Questions About Parkinson's Disease", which is a series of thirteen brochures about Parkinson's disease, translated in many languages and used in several countries around the world. Dr. Rana has also written the following books: "A Synopsis of Neurological Emergencies", "An Aid to Neuro-ophthalmology", "An introduction to Essential Tremor", "50 Ways Parkinson's Could Affect You", and "What is Parkinson's disease in Arabic?".

Contents

**Preface IX** 

Celeste Sassi

Chapter 1 **Etiology and Pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease 1** 

Chapter 5 **Alpha-Synuclein Interactions with Membranes 87** 

**Autophagy Failure: Dangerous Liaisons in Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration 111**  Giovanni Stefanoni, Gessica Sala, Lucio Tremolizzo,

Chapter 7 **Targeting** α**-Synuclein-Related Synaptic Pathology:** 

Arianna Bellucci and PierFranco Spano

Kostas Vekrellis, Georgia Minakaki and

Evangelia Emmanouilidou

Chapter 9 **Actions of GDNF on Midbrain** 

Dianshuai Gao, Yi Liu, Shen Sun, Li Li and Ye Xiong

**Novel Clues for Parkinson's Disease Therapy 137** 

**Dopaminergic Neurons: The Signaling Pathway 193** 

Chapter 8 **Effects of Alpha-Synuclein on Cellular Homeostasis 167** 

Katja Pirc and Nataša Poklar Ulrih

Laura Brighina and Carlo Ferrarese

Chapter 6 **Alpha-Synuclein, Oxidative Stress and** 

Taku Hatano and Nobutaka Hattori

Chapter 2 **Genetics of Parkinson Disease 15** 

Chapter 3 **Parkin and Parkinson's Disease 47**  Shiam-Peng Tay, Grace G.Y. Lim, Calvin W.S. Yeo and Kah-Leong Lim

Chapter 4 **Modeling LRRK2 Parkinsonism 71**  Kelly Hinkle and Heather Melrose
