Cambridge Fellow makes a ‘vital step’ forward in understanding Parkinson’s Disease

A study released earlier this year in Nature Communications by St John’s College fellow, Dr. Giuliana Fusco, has been hailed as a “vital step” in understanding the origins of Parkinson’s Disease.

The study sheds light on the function of alpha-synuclein, a protein which clumps together and kills healthy brain cells in people with the disease. The research is seen as an essential step forward in the journey to find a cure for the condition.

Parkinson’s Disease is the fastest growing neurological disease in the world and currently affects over 10 million people across the globe. The disease is a progressive condition which causes healthy nerve cells in the brain to weaken or die. This causes physical side-affects such as tremors, loss of mobility and speech.

Whilst there are treatments which alleviate the symptoms of the disease, so far there is no cure for it.

Alpha-synuclein, despite being destructive in those with Parkinson’s Disease, is actually present in everyone’s brain, although little is known about it’s function in healthy brains.

In research into Parkinson’s Disease, Dr. Fusco said the key question is, “what is the function of alpha-synuclein, the protein that under pathological conditions forms clumps that affect motor and cognitive abilities.”

The research, carried out at the Cambridge for Misfolding Diseases at the University of Cambridge, has found that alpha-synuclein “clings onto the inner face of the plasma membrane of brain cells”. Co-author Professor Alfonso De Simone from Imperial College London, went on to explain that this discovery adds to the slowly growing understanding of the function of alpha-synuclein.

Explaining the significance of the paper’s finding, Dr. Fusco said, “If we want to cure Parkinson’s, first we need to understand the function of alpha-synuclein, a protein present in everyone’s brains. This research is a vital step towards this goal.”

Cover Image Credits: PuntingCambridge via Flickr (The Creative Commons Licence)