Spinocerebellar ataxia - Leptonychotes weddellii (Weddell seal)

The autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a group of progressive neurodegenerative diseases characterised by loss of balance and motor coordination due to the primary dysfunction of the cerebellum. Compelling evidence points to major aetiological roles for transcriptional dysregulation, protein aggregation and clearance, autophagy, the ubiquitin-proteasome system, alterations of calcium homeostasis, mitochondria defects, toxic RNA gain-of-function mechanisms and eventual cell death with apoptotic features of neurons during SCA disease progression.