The function of a ‘mystery protein’ in brain cells of people with Parkinson’s has been discovered, in new research hailed as being “vital” in long-term efforts to find a cure for the disease.
Alpha-synuclein is a protein which forms clumps that affect motor and cognitive abilities in pathological conditions, but its role in what it does to neurons in the brain in Parkinson’s has remained unknown.
In new research, published today, the ‘mystery protein’ alpha-synuclein “sticks like glue” to the inner face of the plasma membrane of nerve cells, but not to the outer.
The breakthrough was hailed as a “crucial new piece of information” in understanding Parkinson’s, a progressive neurological disorder that causes nerve cells in the brain to weaken or die.
“If we want to cure Parkinson’s, first we need to understand the function of alpha-synuclein, a protein present in everyone’s brains,” says Dr Giuliana Fusco, research fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, and lead author of the paper.
“This research is a vital step towards that goal.”
The new study looked at what was going on inside healthy conditions to help pinpoint what is going wrong in the cells of people with Parkinson’s.
All cells in the body have a plasma membrane that protects cells and usually transports nutrients in, and clears toxic substances out.
The scientists used synthetic models to mimic brain cells membranes during the study.
“One of the top questions in Parkinson’s research is: what is the function of alpha-synuclein, the protein that under pathological conditions forms clumps that affect motor and cognitive abilities?,” continues Dr Fusco.
“Usually you discover a protein for its function and then you explore what is going wrong when disease strikes, in the case of alpha-synuclein the protein was identified for its pathological association but we didn’t know what it did in the neuron.
“Our research suggests that the alpha-synuclein protein sticks like glue to the inner face of the plasma membrane of nerve cells but not to the outer – a crucial new piece of information.”
“When this protein is functioning normally it plays an important part in the mechanisms by which neurons exchange signals in the brain,” says Professor Alfonso De Simone, from Imperial College London and one of the authors of the paper.
“But it has a dark side because it malfunctions and begins to stick together in clumps which eventually spread and kill healthy brain cells.
“Our research showed that this protein clings onto the inner face of the plasma membrane of brain cells so we are slowly building a picture of this very complex disorder by studying the key function of alpha-synuclein.
“We have thousands of proteins in our bodies and until the function of this mystery protein is confirmed with more research, drug therapies cannot begin to be developed to tackle the origins of Parkinson’s disease in case medication accidentally affect a crucial purpose of the alpha-synuclein protein.”
