Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of
Southern California (USC) have uncovered structural clues about
the protein linked to Parkinson's disease (PD), which ultimately
could lead to finding a cure for the degenerative neurological
disorder. The alpha-synuclein (α-synuclein) protein is commonly
found in the healthy human brain even though its function is not
clear. The protein has been the subject of substantial
Parkinson's research, however, because it is a major component
in the protein clumps found in PD cases. Unlike most proteins,
which are typically rigid and occur in one definitive form, the
alpha-synuclein protein can fold and change its structure.
Researchers Tobias S. Ulmer, Ph.D. and Sowmya Bekshe Lokappa,
Ph.D. at the Keck School-affiliated Zilkha Neurogenetic
Institute have determined that the energy difference between two
particular alpha-synuclein structures is less than previously
speculated. Their study, to be published in the June 17 issue of
The Journal of Biological