Two forms of Parkinson's disease identified
Saturday, October 12, 2013 - 10:00
in Biology & Nature
Why can the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease vary so greatly from one patient to another? A consortium of researchers is well on the way to providing an explanation. Parkinson’s disease is caused by a protein known as alpha-synuclein, which forms aggregates within neurons, killing them eventually. The researchers have succeeded in characterizing and producing two different types of alpha-synuclein aggregates. Better still, they have shown that one of these two forms is much more toxic than the other and has a greater capacity to invade neurons.