SNCA and Parkinson disease: The common neuropathological hallmarks of PD include a selective loss of the dopaminergic neurons (DAn) in the Substantia Nigra pars compacta and aggregation of the protein alpha-synuclein (α-SYN) in the surviving DAn and in the so called Lewy bodies (LB) and Lewy neurites (LN) which are found in the few surviving DAn (reviewed in [2]).