Alpha-synuclein aggregates (red) in the mouse brain.Kelvin LukAggregates of misfolded α-synuclein proteins are not just hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease, they actually initiate pathology, according to a report out today (November 15) in Science. A single injection of the aggregated proteins, known as Lewy bodies, into the brains of healthy mice caused the propagation of such aggregates across networks of brain cells as well as the destruction of dopaminergic neurons, a key feature of Parkinson’s disease.
“There had been this [question] with the Lewy bodies as to whether they were sort of tomb-stone evidence of the disease occurring, or were more involved in the process,” said Gary Miller, a professor of neurology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who was not involved in the study. “What this shows is that they are clearly part of the process.”
Parkinson’s disease is one of a number of neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s and prion diseases, that are characterized by the accumulation of protein aggregates in the brain, Miller explained. In prion diseases, misfolded proteins recruit and misfold more of the same protein, which in turn recruit and misfold additional proteins, and so on. “People suspected something similar might be occurring with α-synuclein in Parkinson’s,” ...
