Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwi33
Alpha-synuclein is a small protein (140 amino acid residues, about 14.5 kDa).
That means that it is too small to be seen directly by any current microscopy method.
It is possible to visualise the regions within a cell in which it is found using a specific antibody which has been tagged with a reporter enzyme or fluorescent probe.
However, this approach ("immunocytochemistry") just reports on regions (membrane-bound, in the nucleus, etc) rather than showing individual alpha-synuclein molecules.
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I wonder when the alpha synuclein gets put into the red blood cells? Perhaps in the bone marrow where red blood cells are created. It seems like if they could be somehow prevented from being formed, PD patients would have fewer symptoms and PD may even reverse! Or could a filter be made to remove the alpha synuclein from the red blood cells?