Single protein causes Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy
2015-06-10
(Press-News.org) Several neurodegenerative disorders are caused by aggregates of a single protein known as alpha-synuclein. In collaboration with CNRS and the University of Antwerp, KU Leuven neurobiologists have discovered that the shape of these aggregates - 'cylinders' or 'ribbons' - determines whether a patient develops Parkinson's disease or Multiple System Atrophy, respectively.
Typical of neurodegenerative disorders is the disrupted communication between brain cells together with a loss of cells in specific brain regions. For some brain diseases this phenomenon is linked to a protein known as alpha-synuclein. The exact function of this protein remains unclear, but it may play a role in the communication between brain cells. However, in the case of specific diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), this protein forms aggregates that cause neurodegeneration.
"When alpha-synuclein aggregates accumulate within a brain cell, they interfere with the normal functioning of the cell. The protein aggregates disrupt the communication between brain cells, resulting in cell death. Up to now, nobody understood how aggregates of this single protein could induce different pathologies," says Professor Veerle Baekelandt from the Research Group for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy.
"You could compare it to the construction of a house," doctoral researcher Wouter Peelaerts explains. "With the same building blocks - in this case the alpha-synuclein protein - you can create many different structures. In 2013, Professor Ronald Melki and his colleagues from CNRS isolated several forms of fibres called 'strains'. The two most important strains were cylinder-shaped fibres reminiscent of spaghetti and broad ribbons that resemble linguini. We injected these fibres separately into the brain and blood stream of rats. We noticed that the rats developed different symptoms: while the 'cylinders' induced Parkinson's disease, the 'ribbons' caused MSA symptoms." This clearly demonstrates that distinct diseases result from alpha-synuclein fibres that are structurally different.
"We are gaining more insight into the differences between the diseases. But we suspect that more fibres with different shapes and effects are waiting to be discovered, apart from the two that we examined in this study. In any case, our findings open up possibilities for the development of new treatments. A drug that counteracts the development of aggregates could be used to treat a whole range of brain diseases."
INFORMATION:
Media contacts
Professor Veerle Baekelandt, Research Group for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, tel: +32 37 40 57, e-mail: veerle.baekelandt@med.kuleuven.be
Wouter Peelaerts, Research Group for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, tel: +32 37 40 59, e-mail: wouter.peelaerts@med.kuleuven.be
Full text
The full text of the study "Alpha-synuclein strains cause distinct synucleinopathies after local and systemic administration" by W. Peelaerts, L. Bousset, A. Van der Perren, A. Moskalyuk, R. Pulizzi, M. Giugliano, C. Van den Haute, R. Melki, and V. Baekelandt will be published in Nature (DOI 10.1038/nature14547). The paper is scheduled for Advance Online Publication on http://www.nature.com on 10 June 2015 at 7:00 p.m. CEST / 6:00 p.m. London time / 1:00 p.m. US Eastern Time. Alternatively, copies can be obtained from the authors.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-06-10
The discovery of how a group of bacteria rapidly adapts to changing growth conditions could have implications for future antibiotic development, according to research at the University of Oxford and the University of York.
Led by Professor Colin Kleanthous at Oxford and Dr Christoph Baumann at York, the research which also involved key collaborators Mark Sansom at Oxford and Jacob Piehler at the University of Osnabrück, is published in Nature.
Gram-negative bacteria are a major cause of disease, in part because they have a robust outer membrane that protects ...
2015-06-10
A University of Manchester led trial of a new psoriasis drug has resulted in 40 percent of people showing a complete clearance of psoriatic plaques after 12 weeks of treatment and over 90 percent showing improvement.
The research tested 2,500 people with psoriasis. Half were given a new drug - ixekizumab - either once every two or four weeks. The other half were given a placebo or a widely used drug for psoriasis called etanercept.
The ixekizumab groups showed quick and extensive improvements in their condition, outperforming the groups on placebo or etanercept. Around ...
2015-06-10
wo NASA satellites provided a look inside and outside of Tropical Cyclone Ashobaa. NASA and JAXA's GPM satellite observed rainfall rates and cloud heights identifying powerful thunderstorms within the cyclone, and NASA's Aqua satellite provided an overall look at Ashobaa's cloud extent.
The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory had an excellent view of Tropical Cyclone Ashobaa in the Arabian Sea over on June 8, 2015 at 2131 UTC (5:31 p.m. EDT). As expected, Tropical Cyclone Ashobaa was more powerful than when seen by GPM earlier in the day. GPM's Microwave ...
2015-06-10
Genetically modified fish that overexpress growth hormone have been created for more than 25 years, but unlike many domesticated crops, transgenic fish have yet to enter commercial production. Because of the difficulty inherent in eradicating an established fish population, efforts are under way to model the threat posed by possible invasions.
In an article for an upcoming issue of BioScience, a team of government and academic researchers, led by Robert Devlin of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, examined the possible outcomes of an accidental release of transgenic fish. Their ...
2015-06-10
The air around us is a chaotic superhighway of molecules whizzing through space and constantly colliding with each other at speeds of hundreds of miles per hour. Such erratic molecular behavior is normal at ambient temperatures.
But scientists have long suspected that if temperatures were to plunge to near absolute zero, molecules would come to a screeching halt, ceasing their individual chaotic motion and behaving as one collective body. This more orderly molecular behavior would begin to form very strange, exotic states of matter -- states that have never been observed ...
2015-06-10
Most galaxies are clumped together in groups or clusters. A neighboring galaxy is never far away. But this galaxy, known as NGC 6503, has found itself in a lonely position, at the edge of a strangely empty patch of space called the Local Void.
The Local Void is a huge stretch of space that is at least 150 million light-years across. It seems completely empty of stars or galaxies. The galaxy's odd location on the edge of this never-land led stargazer Stephen James O'Meara to dub it the "Lost-In-Space galaxy" in his 2007 book, Hidden Treasures.
NGC 6503 is 18 million ...
2015-06-10
New research from UBC and the Child & Family Research Institute at BC Children's Hospital shows that risky outdoor play is not only good for children's health but also encourages creativity, social skills and resilience.
The findings, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that children who participated in physical activity such as climbing and jumping, rough and tumble play and exploring alone, displayed greater physical and social health.
"We found that play environments where children could take risks promoted increased ...
2015-06-10
Google searches for information on melanoma and skin cancer increased over the summer months during a five-year period, although the level of interest did not correlate with the melanoma mortality to incidence ratio, suggesting that increased search volumes may not be associated with early detection, according to a research letter published online by JAMA Dermatology.
Researcher Kyle T. Amber, M.D., of MacNeal Hospital, Berwyn, Ill., and coauthors used Google Trends, a research tool which quantifies interest in topics at the population level by analyzing all search queries ...
2015-06-10
For years, research on nuclear weapons has relied on old data, limited experiments and computer modeling. But this year, that pattern has changed. Scientists have run new experiments that simulate what happens to plutonium in a nuclear explosion, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. The research will deepen scientists' understanding of the element -- and help them analyze a nuclear event should one occur.
In the article, Jyllian Kemsley, a senior editor at C&EN, notes that six years ago, ...
2015-06-10
Using the intestinal hormone GLP-1 in obesity treatment prevents the loss of bone mass otherwise frequently associated with major weight loss. This is the finding of a new study from the University of Copenhagen, Hvidovre and Glostrup Hospital. According to the researchers behind the study, the results may have a significant bearing on future obesity treatment.
Rapid weight loss leads to a loss of bone mass and an increased risk of bone fractures. New research shows that treating obesity with the GLP-1 hormone helps prevent loss of bone mass in addition to having a number ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Single protein causes Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy
