Parkinson disease is a TH17 dominant autoimmune disorder against   accumulated alpha-synuclein
  Parkinson disease is a very common neurodegenerative disorder. Patients usually undergo destruction of substantia nigra to develop typical symptoms such as resting tremor, hypokinesia, and rigidity. However, the exact mechanism of Parkinson disease is still unknown, so it is called idiopathic Parkinsonism. According to my microarray analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes and substantia nigra brain tissue, I propose that Parkinson disease is actually a TH17 dominant autoimmune disease. Based on the microarray data in substantia nigra, HSP40, HSP70, HSP90, HSP27, HSP105, TLR5, TLR7, CEBPB, CEBPG, FOS, and caspase1 are significantly up-regulated. In peripheral leukocytes, NFKB1A, CEBPD, FOS, retinoic receptor alpha, suppressor of IKK epsilon, S100A11, G-CSF, MMP9, IL-1 receptor, IL-8 receptor, TNF receptor, caspase8, c1q receptor, cathepsin Z, HLA-G, complement receptor1, and complement 5a receptor. General immune related genes are also up-regulated including ILF2, CD22, CD3E, BLNK, ILF3, TCR alpha, TCR zeta, TCR delta, LAT, ITK, Ly9, and BANK1. The autoantigen is mainly alpha-synuclein. After knowing the exact disease pathophysiology, we can develop better drugs to prevent or control the detrimental disorder. 
Wan-Chung Hu
q-bio.OT