Parkinson's disease

Topic description and stories

̽��ֱ��study suggests that alpha-synuclein acts as a bond between cellular transporters in healthy brains, regulating their flow and therefore controlling the signalling process., Credit: Alfonso De Simone

Parkinson’s Disease protein plays vital “marshalling” role in healthy brains

19 Sep 2016

Researchers have identified how alpha-synuclein, the protein associated with Parkinson’s Disease, enables communication between neurons in the brain...

Image of “amyloid fibrils”; thread-like structures which form after the protein alpha-synuclein aggregates. Plaques (protein deposits) consisting of this protein have been found in the brains of Parkinson ’s Disease patients and linked to disease.

Tiny changes in Parkinson’s protein can have “dramatic” impact on processes that lead to the disease

30 Aug 2016

Specific mutations in the protein associated with Parkinson’s Disease, in which just one of its 140 building blocks is altered, can make a dramatic...

Artist’s rendering of protein fibrils (in blue) and healthy proteins from computer simulations

Slow, slow, quick quick, slow: Scientists discover how proteins in the brain build up rapidly in Alzheimer’s disease

18 Jul 2016

Cambridge researchers have identified – and shown that it may be possible to control – the mechanism that leads to the rapid build-up of the disease-...

Zoomed-in super-resolution (dSTORM) images of the fibrils inside the neuron formed of exogenous ‘’seed’’ fibrils (green) elongated by endogenous α-synuclein (red)., Credit: Dorothea Pinotsi

Researchers identify when Parkinson’s proteins become toxic to brain cells

14 Mar 2016

Observation of the point at which proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease become toxic to brain cells could help identify how and why people...

A growing axon tip exhibits polarised mRNA translation (red), Credit: K-M. Leung

̽��ֱ��amazing axon adventure

05 Feb 2016

How does the brain make connections, and how does it maintain them? Cambridge neuroscientists and mathematicians are using a variety of techniques to...

Brain showing hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (cropped), Credit: ZEISS Microscopy

Cambridge's Chemistry of Health programme awarded £17 million in funding

25 Mar 2015

New funding will support fundamental research into the molecular processes underlying human disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases...

Detail of an atomic force microscopy image which shows amyloid fibrils of alpha-synuclein grown out of synthetic lipid vesicles

Protein threshold linked to Parkinson’s Disease

02 Feb 2015

Excess quantities of a specific protein in the brain dramatically increase the chances of so-called “nucleation events” that could eventually result...

New headway in battle against neurodegenerative diseases

15 May 2014

Conditions which may accelerate the spread of Parkinson’s disease, and a potential means of enhancing naturally-occurring defences against...

Genetic mutations linked to Parkinson’s disease

12 Aug 2013

Mutations might play a key role in the death of brain cells.

Search and rescue: scientists identify a novel therapy with potential for treating Parkinson’s disease

22 Dec 2011

A collaboration between virologists and neuroscientists at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� has demonstrated how viruses that cross the blood/brain barrier could...

Research sheds light on cell mechanism which plays a role in such diseases as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s

26 Jul 2011

New research from scientists at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge provides critical insight into the formation of autophagosomes, which are responsible for...

Parkinson’s drug may help cocaine users kick habit

07 Jun 2010

Medication that increases levels of the brain chemical dopamine could open up new ways for helping some heavy users of cocaine and amphetamines kick...

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