Boosting levels of a protein called TFE3 helped reduce nerve cell degeneration and improve motor function in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, a study found. Increased levels of this protein helped clear toxic alpha-synuclein clumps, a hallmark of Parkinson’s, as well as restore the function of mitochondria, the…

A compound formed by nerve cells as they break down cholesterol appears to be involved in the formation of toxic alpha-synuclein protein clumps in the brain — clumps, or aggregates, that are tied to Parkinson’s disease — making this byproduct a potential therapeutic target, a new study in patients…

Researchers have developed a method to detect clumps of alpha-synuclein protein, a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease, within extracellular vesicles (EVs) purified from blood, providing a possible aid to Parkinson’s diagnosis before symptoms appear. EVs are tiny membrane-bound sacs released from cells that can carry a variety of molecules, including…

Clumps of alpha-synuclein, the protein responsible for nerve cell death in Parkinson’s disease, initially form under medium salt conditions. However, over time, these clumps, or aggregates, transform into droplets through a process called liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), effectively preventing further clumping, or aggregation, of alpha-synuclein, a study has shown.

The presence of salt or a molecular crowd may make it more likely for the alpha-synuclein protein, which forms toxic clumps in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease, to aggregate, or build up, into droplets, according to computer simulations run by researchers in India. Understanding how alpha-synuclein behaves,…

A test that uses skin biopsies was able to detect the form of alpha-synuclein protein that causes toxic clumps in the brain of people with Parkinson’s disease and similar conditions in more than 90% of the patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored clinical trial.

Scientists have proposed a new way to classify Parkinson’s disease based on biological changes associated with the disorder. “Without looking at the biology, you can’t get answers. And without answers, we won’t have much-needed breakthroughs in Parkinson’s,” Anthony Lang, MD, a researcher at the Krembil Brain Institute in Canada,…

Toxic clumping of the alpha-synuclein protein, a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease, may lead to a calcium imbalance in which the mineral builds up to harmful levels in neurons early in the course of the neurodegenerative condition, according to a study in mouse and human cells. Single molecules of alpha-synuclein…

Toxic clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein change the way the brain cells most affected by Parkinson’s disease utilize energy, a study shows. Its researchers wanted a clearer understanding of how “key metabolic processes” are affected by the protein’s aggregation, damaging “vulnerable” nerve cells within the brain, they wrote. To…

The findings of new research identifying the mechanism behind a familial form of Parkinson’s — one caused by a CHCHD2 gene mutation — suggest the potential to delay or perhaps prevent the disease’s development in people with the mutation, according to researchers. The team of scientists found this CHCHD2…