Biologists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a significant discovery that could lead to a new therapeutic strategy for Parkinson’s disease.

The findings, recently published online ahead of print in the journal Molecular and Cell Biology, focus on an enzyme known as parkin, whose absence causes an early-onset form of Parkinson’s disease. Precisely how the loss of this enzyme leads to the deaths of neurons has been unclear. But the TSRI researchers showed that parkin’s loss sharply reduces the level of another protein that normally helps protect neurons from stress.

“We now have a good model for how parkin loss can lead to the deaths of neurons under stress,” said TSRI Professor Steven I. Reed, who was senior author of the new study. “This also suggests a therapeutic strategy that might work against Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases

http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/20...30724reed.html