Figure 7.

EGFR is associated with neurodegenerative diseases. (A) Postmortem brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease show reduced expression of EGF and EGFR. Wild-type parkin sustains EGFR signaling while parkin’s mutations, which are associated with a recessive form of Parkinson’s disease, lead to increased EGFR degradation. (B) Aged APP/PS1 double transgenic mice that show plaque formation and memory loss, the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, have reduced EGFR expression that can contribute to neurodegeneration. (C) EGFR mRNA is overexpressed in the spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.