Scientists have made a big breakthrough in the study of Parkinson’s disease by directly seeing and counting tiny clumps of proteins that are thought to cause the illness.
These tiny clusters, called alpha-synuclein oligomers, have long been believed to trigger the disease, but they were too small to see—until now.
A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge, UCL, the Francis Crick Institute, and Polytechnique Montréal developed a new method that finally allowed them to find and measure these protein clusters in human brain tissue. One scientist described the discovery as “like being able to see stars in broad daylight.”
Parkinson’s disease is growing fast. In the UK alone, about 166,000 people live with the disease. Around the world, the number is expected to double to 25 million by 2050. While there are treatments to help with symptoms like shaking and stiffness, there is still no cure or way to slow the disease.
Doctors have known for over 100 years that Parkinson’s is linked to large protein clumps called Lewy bodies. But scientists believe the smaller clumps—oligomers—may be the real reason brain cells get damaged. These are very tiny, just a few nanometers long, and were impossible to see in the past.
Now, the new method, called ASA-PD (Advanced Sensing of Aggregates for Parkinson’s Disease), uses a special type of microscope and bright light signals to find and study these tiny clumps. It makes the signal stronger and removes background noise so researchers can clearly see and analyze the oligomers.
Using ASA-PD, the team looked at brain samples from people with and without Parkinson’s disease. They found that oligomers were present in both groups, but in Parkinson’s brains, the clumps were bigger, brighter, and more common. This shows a strong connection between these clusters and the disease.
Even more exciting, the team found a special kind of oligomer that only appeared in Parkinson’s patients. This type might be an early warning sign, showing up years before a person starts having symptoms.
This breakthrough is important because it not only helps scientists understand how Parkinson’s begins and spreads in the brain, but it might also help in developing better tests and treatments. Similar methods could even be used to study other brain diseases like Alzheimer’s or Huntington’s.
Understanding what goes wrong in the brain is difficult, but now that researchers can see these tiny protein clusters clearly, they hope to find ways to prevent or slow down the damage they cause.
The study is published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
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