Margarida Azevedo, MSc,  —

Researchers characterized the structure and interactions of proteins connected to the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene, the most common genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease, opening up new avenues for the development of new treatments for the disease. The study,” Structural Basis for Rab8a Recruitment of…

Increasing evidence links insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) deficiency to the development and progression of Parkinson’s disease, a review study said. Estrogen, the female sex hormone thought to hold potential beneficial effects against Parkinson’s, or PD, may exert its protective actions via IGF-1, the researchers said.

Researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging have learned that oxidative stress, a main driver in sporadic Parkinson’s Disease, affects the parkin protein – essential to clear damaged proteins and mitochondria in cells – in the same manner that genetic mutations do. The findings help researchers better understand sporadic PD. The molecular dysfunction…

Platelets contribute to amyloid-β deposits in blood vessels in the brain by promoting the formation of Aβ aggregates that are central to Parkinson’s disease, but a heart medication — the anti-platelet drug clopidogrel — can help to stop these plaques from forming, researchers at Örebro University in Sweden reported. This last finding, from a…

Two enzymes that play an important role in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration, and whose inhibition was seen to improve disease symptoms in fruit fly models, have been identified. Moreover, inhibition of one of these enzymes with a drug-like compound was found to reverse movement defects in the flies characteristic of diseases like…

Scientists at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging have derived 10 induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) lines from Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients that carry the most common mutations associated with the disease. These cell lines and related genomic information will be made available to the larger scientific community, and PD models created…

Lund University researchers followed a Parkinson’s disease patient who had undergone neuronal transplantation, and reported the patient experienced long-term “major clinical benefits,” including the restoration of normal dopamine function. Importantly, transplant-derived cell reinnervation was evident for almost 25 years, although the disease again began to progress some 14 years after transplantation. The study, “…

Chronic activation of the innate immune system, the body’s first line of defense, is the main cause of a range of symptoms common to neurodegenerative diseases including dementia, an impairment often found in Parkinson’s disease patients, researchers from the University of Adelaide reported. The possibly important study, “The Enemy within: Innate…

University of Texas Health Science Center researchers have identified physiologic changes in dopamine neurons in a key animal model of Parkinson’s known to display disease symptoms, the MitoPark mouse model. The dopamine changes in the mice, however, clearly came before any symptoms appeared — findings that may lead to earlier identification of  Parkinson’s in people,…

Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks in the world, with U.S. consumers spending an average of $40 billion on coffee per year. Its main component, caffeine, is a natural stimulant that has been long considered the fuel behind modern society’s workforce, with many relying on multiple cups of coffee…