The soluble form of Fas molecule is elevated in parkinsonian brain tissues.

Fas is an apoptosis-signaling receptor molecule on the surface of a number of cell types. The soluble form of Fas (sFas) was measured for the first time in brain (caudate nucleus, putamen and cerebral cortex), ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (VCSF), and lumbar CSF (LCSF) from control and parkinsonian patients by a highly sensitive two-site sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The concentrations of sFas in nigro-striatal dopaminergic regions were significantly higher in parkinsonian patients than those in controls, whereas this product in cerebral cortex showed no significant difference between parkinsonian and control subjects. Neither VCSF nor LCSF contained the sFas molecule in the detectable amounts (< 16 pg/ml). These results suggest that the presence of sFas possibly leads to cell death/neurodegeneration in parkinsonian brain.