Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org) researchers have developed a method to reduce the production of alpha-synuclein in the brain. Alpha-synuclein is a protein that is believed to be central to the cause of Parkinson’s disease (http://www.mayoclinic.org/parkinsons- disease). All patients with Parkinson’s disease have abnormal accumulations of alpha- synuclein protein in the brain.
The new method involves the delivery of RNA interference compounds directly to selected areas of the brain via injection. The RNA interference compounds silence the gene that produces alpha-synuclein, according to the Mayo researchers. The study was published this month in Molecular Neurodegeneration.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder that affects nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls muscle movement. Symptoms include tremor, slowed movement and rigid muscles. At least 1 million people in the U.S. are believed to have Parkinson’s disease, and 2 percent of the population can expect to develop the disease during their lifetime.
“While our research has not yet been tested on humans, we expect that these findings will lead to an effective treatment for slowing or even halting the progression of Parkinson’s disease,” says Demetrius Maraganore, M.D. (http://www.mayoclinic.org/bio/10345655.html), a Mayo Clinic neurologist.
