Dave Sulzer

α-Synuclein-specific T cell reactivity is associated with preclinical and early Parkinson’s disease

Nature Communications · 2020 · 386 citations

A diagnosis of motor Parkinson's disease (PD) is preceded by a prolonged premotor phase with accumulating neuronal damage. Here we examined the temporal relation between α-synuclein (α-syn) T cell reactivity and PD. A longitudinal case study revealed that elevated α-syn-specific T cell responses were detected prior to the diagnosis of motor PD, and declined after. The relationship between T cell reactivity and early PD in two independent cohorts showed that α-syn-specific T cell responses were h…

Chaperone-mediated autophagy prevents collapse of the neuronal metastable proteome

Cell · 2021 · 309 citations

A human brain map of mitochondrial respiratory capacity and diversity

Nature · 2025-03-26 · 79 citations

The spatial landscape of glial pathology and T cell response in Parkinson’s disease substantia nigra

Nature Communications · 2025-08-04 · 15 citations

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that causes movement disorders. Neurons in PD aggregate α-synuclein and are depleted from the substantia nigra (SN), which is a movement control hub. The presence of α-synuclein-reactive T cells in PD patient blood suggests a role for adaptive immunity in the pathogenesis of PD. However, the characteristics of this response within the brain are not well understood. Here, we employed single-nucleus RNAseq, spatial transcriptomics,…

Autoimmune response to C9orf72 protein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Nature · 2025-10-01 · 13 citations

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive loss of motor neurons. Neuroinflammation is apparent in affected tissues, including increased T cell infiltration and activation of microglia, particularly in the spinal cord1,2. Autoimmune responses are thought to have a key role in ALS pathology, and it is hypothesized that T cells contribute to the rapid loss of neurons during disease progression3,4. However, until now there has been no reported…