High hopes for Parkinson's cure
5 July 2007
New research has brought scientists a step closer to a cure for Parkinson's disease. They've discovered a new protein that defends brain cells from disease-causing damage. Antenna investigates...
This research was published in the journal Nature on 5 July 2007.
Parkinson's is a brain disease that hinders movement. It affects about 120,000 people in the UK alone, and almost 10,000 are newly diagnosed every year. At the moment there's no cure for Parkinson's, but now new research could turn the prognosis around.
Although symptoms usually appear in patients over 50, people as young as 20 can be affected too.
Parkinson's occurs when the brain's dopamine-producing nerve cells begin to die. Dopamine is a chemical messenger that sends signals to the parts of the brain that control movement. Without it these brain areas stop working properly. Sufferers can find it difficult to write, walk and even talk.
Shaking hands are one of the first signs of Parkinson's.
Image: Stock.XCHNG/A Carlos Herrera
Current drugs only ease the symptoms of Parkinson's - they don't stop nerve cells dying off. But the new protein gets straight to the problem and shields these dopamine-making cells from harmful toxins that build up in the brain.
The new protein (green) around the dopamine neurons (red).
Image: Paivi Lindholm
Lead researcher Mart Saarma explains: 'We've discovered a new nerve-nourishing protein that stimulates and regulates nerve growth. It can keep nerve cells alive, which is particularly important for treating brain diseases like Parkinson's.'
Mart Saarma, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Image: University of Helsinki
How did they work this out?
The team injected the protein into rats' brains - in the specific area that releases dopamine. Then they added a toxic chemical that usually causes these nerve cells to die. They discovered that the new protein completely protected these nerve cells from damage.
This is a slice through a rat's brain - from the bit where dopamine is made. You can see the new protein stained brown.
Image: Paivi Lindholm
They then tested the protein in rats that had Parkinson's. Not only did the protein stop more nerve cells from dying, but almost 60% of the damaged nerves recovered to full health.
'We're really excited by these findings,' says Mart. 'This protein is different to others we already know about because it's acting mostly on the nerves that affect dopamine and not on other types of nerves in the brain. This is really important in reducing unwanted side effects in potential drugs for Parkinson's.'
These pictures show slices of rats' brains with the protein treatment (bottom) and without (top).
Image: Merja H Voutilainen
Kieran Breen from the Parkinson's Disease Society agrees Mart's research is exciting, but thinks there's still a long way to go.
'What's interesting is that the protein shows similar brain-protecting actions to other growth factors, indicating that this general type of drug may be useful in the future for developing new therapies to treat the disease.'
Kieran Breen, Director of Research and Development for the Parkinson's Disease Society
Image: Parkinson's Disease Society
'However research into the protein's potential benefits is only at the very early stages, so a lot more work is needed before we know if this really could be a treatment for Parkinson's.'
'The next step will be to test the protein in other animals to make sure it's not harmful in any way and then to start clinical trials on people as soon as possible,' says Mart.
