This similarity provides a mechanistic link between development of PD and SARS-CoV-2, which can be further supported by the laboratory results of the present study, showing increased expression of p65-NFκB and caspases-2, -3 and -8 in 6OHDA-treated dDCNs, thus stimulating the NFκB pathway and promoting apoptotic death. Here, CASP2 is linked to Parkinson disease.