In recent years, new hope for understanding the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD) has emerged with the discovery of mutations and duplications in the a-synuclein (a-syn) gene that are associated with rare familial forms of Parkinsonism [1][2][3]. Moreover, it has been shown that a-syn is centrally involved in the pathogenesis of both sporadic and inherited forms of PD and LBD because this molecule accumulates in Lewy bodies (LBs) [4][5][6], synapses, and axons, and its expression in transgenic (tg) mice [7][8][9] and Drosophila [10] mimics several aspects of PD.The mechanisms through which a-syn leads to neurodegeneration and the characteristic symptoms of LBD are unclear. However, recent evidence indicates that abnormal accumulation of misfolded a-syn in the Accumulation of a-synuclein resulting in the formation of oligomers and protofibrils has been linked to Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia. In contrast, b-synuclein (b-syn), a close homologue, does not aggregate and reduces a-synuclein (a-syn)-related pathology. Although considerable information is available about the conformation of a-syn at the initial and end stages of fibrillation, less is known about the dynamic process of a-syn conversion to oligomers and how interactions with antiaggregation chaperones such as b-synuclein might occur. Molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulations based on the micelle-derived structure of a-syn showed that a-syn homodimers can adopt nonpropagating (head-to-tail) and propagating (head-to-head) conformations. Propagating a-syn dimers on the membrane incorporate additional a-syn molecules, leading to the formation of pentamers and hexamers forming a ring-like structure. In contrast, b-syn dimers do not propagate and block the aggregation of a-syn into ring-like oligomers. Under in vitro cell-free conditions, a-syn aggregates formed ring-like structures that were disrupted by b-syn. Similarly, cells expressing a-syn displayed increased ion current activity consistent with the formation of Zn 2+ -sensitive nonselective cation channels. These results support the contention that in Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia, a-syn oligomers on the membrane might form pore-like structures, and that the beneficial effects of b-synuclein might be related to its ability to block the formation of pore-like structures.Abbreviations aa, amino acid; a-syn, a-synuclein; b-syn, b-synuclein; GFP, green fluorescent protein; LBD, Lewy body disease; PD, Parkinson's disease; POPC, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine; tg, transgenic.