British researchers have succeeded in unraveling the mysteries of the protein previously identified as being involved in the onset of Parkinson’s disease.
It is a disease that affects 25,000 people each year and age is the main risk factor for the disease. The average age of patients is around 75, and it rarely affects people under 50. According to Public Health France, exposure to pesticides in an agricultural or professional setting is also associated with a risk of Parkinson’s disease. This chronic neurodegenerative pathology causes a progressive loss of neurons in the brain but also slowness of movement until tremors at rest. But the situation could change in the research of Parkinson’s disease. Researchers have been able to identify the origin of the disease and this could make it possible to imagine a treatment that can reverse its effects.
The “alpha-synuclein” protein, the starting point of the disease
Alpha-synuclein is a protein naturally present in humans, it plays an important role in the normal development of cognitive functions. This protein is also found in the heart and other tissues. However, this natural protein can be made to degrade strongly and becomes the number 1 enemy of Parkinson’s disease. As it deteriorates, it aggregates into clusters in neurons and this is when symptoms and motor disturbances appear. By way of comparison, a person suffering from no pathology has a plasma membrane that protects cells and gets rid of all toxic substances. In people with this neurodegenerative disease, the alpha-synuclein protein will be destructive and gradually destroy healthy cells in the plasma membrane.
Treatment is now possible to tackle the origins of Parkinson’s disease
In their study published on February 10 in the journal Nature Communications, British researchers at Cambridge University and Imperial College London present this promising discovery as a major breakthrough in the search for a cure. Currently, existing treatments are not at all effective in slowing the spread of symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. With this very promising discovery, British researchers are awaiting confirmation from their colleagues in order to consider a treatment able to tackle the strain of this disease and reverse its effects.
