New Path to Stop Parkinson’s Before It Starts
Yale researchers are testing a bold new way to slow Parkinson’s disease. The work targets misfolded alpha-synuclein, a protein that spreads in the brain.
Stephen Strittmatter’s team is trying to stop neurons from taking up the faulty protein. They are studying a protein called mGluR4 as a possible drug target.
A second team led by Eric Song is looking at the brain’s lymphatic system. Lymphatic vessels may clear the protein before it can harm nerve cells.
“Lymphatics are designed to clear waste from organs,” Song said. He studies how lymphatic vessels drain the faulty protein.
The teams hope the two approaches together can slow or prevent the disease. The work is funded by ASAP grants for high-risk research.
Song’s group is working with teams at Columbia and Vanderbilt. Similar lymph-based methods have shown promise for Alzheimer’s disease too.
The research is still early. But it opens a new front against neurodegeneration.
Sources:
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