Scientists have identified the specific brain cells that die in Parkinson's disease and discovered what makes them so vulnerable.
Led by neurobiologists Tushar Kamath and Abdulraouf Abdulraouf of the Broad Institute, the team studied brain cells from individuals who had died from eitherWhat they found was a group of cells that were"highly susceptible" to degeneration, which could behow genetic risk likely manifests to produce Parkinson's disease.a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by uncontrollable movements such as tremors, speech difficulties, and balance problems that worsen over time.
But one group of dopaminergic neurons stood out as largely missing in the brains of people with Parkinson's disease. In other words, known genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease might be acting upon"the most vulnerable neurons that influence their survival", Kamath and colleaguesIt's important to note, however, that Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies are two different disorders that share some similar features: midbrain dopaminergic neurons are lost, abnormal clumps of proteins called Lewy bodies form inside cells, and people often experience the same triad of motor...
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