Scientists uncover trigger to fatal neurodegenerative disease
University of Tennessee researcher uses computer simulation to
pinpoint changes in molecular structure that leads directly to
disease. Jeremy Smith, Governor's Chair for Molecular Biophysics
at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has helped reveal a
key trigger of GerstmannSträusslerScheinker (GSS) syndrome, a
rare but deadly neurodegenerative disease. The finding could
have far-reaching implications for the treatment of other
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's,
and Parkinson's. Smith conducted his research with two
collaborators in Italy: Isabella Daidone, a former postdoctoral
researcher of his who is now at the University of L'Aquila, and
Alfredo Di Nola of the University of Rome "La Sapienza." Most
GSS patients begin developing symptoms in their late fifties.
Symptoms include loss of memory, difficulty speaking, and
unsteadiness and lead to progressive dementia, and then death
within a few months or years. There is