alpha-synuclein

Maligned peptides such as the Alzheimer’s-associated amyloid precursor protein may have critical roles in the healthy brain.

The normal functions of peptides that aggregate in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s have been largely overlooked by scientists, but some argue that they are critical for understanding the development of disease.

The single-celled fungus allows researchers to study Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and other brain diseases with unparalleled speed and scale.

New evidence points to a waste-clearing problem in patients’ cells, rather than the accumulation of protein tangles, as the root cause of the neurodegenerative disease.

Damage to the lysosome, the organelle that removes excess proteins, lipids, and other materials, might be at the root of the disease.

Johns Hopkins’s Ted Dawson discusses his lab’s demonstration that misfolded α-synuclein can move from the stomach to the brain and cause physical and cognitive symptoms.