WNT1 and Parkinson disease: Using the MPTP-lesioned mouse model which recapitulates many of the pathogenetic processes operative in PD [19], molecular profiling of 92 mRNA species in ventral midbrain (VM) uncovered a robust and persistent up-regulation of the canonical Wnt agonist, Wnt1, further supported by in Situ hybridization histochemistry and Western blot analysis [38].