The main cause of the disease has just been discovered

The treatment of Parkinson’s disease takes a new turn following the results of a recent study on a protein called alpha-syncyclin.

Each year, more than 8,000 are announced Parkinson’s disease (According to the inserm). The second neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s, the pathology is most commonly seen in the elderly and affects 1% of those over 65 years of age. Recently, researchers identified one of the main causes of this disease: the protein alpha-sinuclein. A good discovery that will allow significant progress in the search for treatment against the disease.

The protein responsible for the development of Parkinson’s disease has been identified

Today more than 200,000 people have Parkinson’s disease. Neurodegenerative pathology causes progressive loss of neurons in the brain in patients. Many symptoms can be noticed such as stiffness, trembling or slowness in movement. Through a new study, researchers have successfully identified Alpha-syncyclin protein One of the factors that plays a major role in the development of the disease.

Giuliana Fusco, lead author of the study and researcher at St. John’s College, University of Cambridge, said in an interview Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News “If we want to cure Parkinson’s disease, we must first understand the function of the alpha-syncyclin protein in everyone’s brain. This study is an important step towards this goal.

The alpha-syncyclin protein is somewhat better understood

The results were published in the journal Nature Communications Therefore this protein allows us to better understand the form of the disease. Giuliana Fusco explains, “Usually you find a protein in relation to its function, then you see what goes wrong when the person is sick. In the case of the alpha-syncyclin protein, it has been identified for its pathogenic association, but we do not know exactly what it does in neurons. Our study shows that this protein attaches to the inner surface of the plasma membrane of nerve cells, but not to their outer surface, which is valuable information ”.

As a reminder, the alpha-syncyclin protein helps to transmit nerve signals to the brain. In people with Parkinson’s disease, its breakdown causes the formation of nodules in patients, which effectively kills healthy brain cells. The progress of this new study will allow the development of better therapies to reverse its harmful effects when the condition of this protein deteriorates.