Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia are serious brain disorders that become more common with age.
Both can affect movement, thinking and daily life, although symptoms differ from person to person.
Researchers have long been trying to understand why brain cells become damaged and how that damage might be slowed.
A study from scientists at Scripps Research has identified a problem in one of the brain’s natural cleanup systems. The discovery centers on a protein called p62, which normally helps cells find and remove damaged or unwanted material. When this system stops working properly, harmful proteins may be able to build up inside brain cells.
One of the most important proteins in Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia is alpha-synuclein. This protein is normally found in the brain, but in these diseases it can fold into abnormal shapes and stick together. The resulting clumps are strongly linked with damage to nerve cells.
These abnormal protein deposits can interfere with the normal work of brain cells. Scientists also have evidence that harmful forms of alpha-synuclein may move between cells, potentially helping disease-related changes spread through the brain.
Understanding why the protein is not removed efficiently could therefore point to new treatment ideas.
The Scripps Research team found that p62 can be altered through a chemical process called S-nitrosylation. In simple terms, molecules related to nitric oxide attach to the p62 protein and change how it works. Nitric oxide has many useful roles in the body, but unusually high or poorly controlled levels can contribute to cell damage.
When p62 is changed in this way, it becomes less effective at helping cells clear unwanted proteins.
The researchers found that this problem can encourage alpha-synuclein to accumulate and form larger clumps. That could create a harmful cycle in which the brain’s cleanup system becomes weaker as damaging proteins continue to build up.
This finding matters because it identifies a possible new target for treatment. Instead of trying only to remove alpha-synuclein after large deposits have formed, scientists may eventually be able to protect the cell machinery that normally clears it away.
Preventing harmful changes to p62 could potentially help brain cells control alpha-synuclein more effectively.
Such a treatment is still a research goal rather than something available to patients. Parkinson’s is a complex disease involving many biological processes, and Lewy body dementia can also affect the brain in several ways.
A discovery in cells or laboratory models must go through much more testing before scientists know whether it can safely help people.
Researchers have also studied whether nutrition and vitamins, including vitamins D and E, are connected with Parkinson’s disease.
These nutrients play important roles in the body, but there is not enough evidence to say that vitamin supplements can prevent or cure Parkinson’s or Lewy body dementia. People should be cautious about taking high doses of supplements without medical advice.
Parkinson’s disease is best known for symptoms such as tremor, slow movement, stiffness and balance problems. Lewy body dementia commonly causes problems with thinking, attention and movement, and some people experience visual hallucinations. Both conditions are associated with abnormal alpha-synuclein deposits in the brain.
The Scripps Research findings add another piece to the puzzle by showing how changes in the brain’s protein-removal system may help these deposits grow.
The work suggests that keeping p62 functioning normally could become a useful strategy for future medicines. More research will be needed to determine whether targeting this process can actually slow disease progression in people.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies that Vitamin B may slow down cognitive decline, and Mediterranean diet could help lower risk of Parkinson’s.
For more health information, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing Plant-based diets could protect cognitive health from air pollution.
Copyright © 2026 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
