Errant protein linked to Parkinson's

Gainesville, Fla. -- U.S. researchers have found that rats develop Parkinson-like symptoms when their brain cells have a common protein lacking a single phosphate component.

The protein, known as alpha-synuclein, is believed to help nerve cells communicate by controlling the release of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine.

Parkinson's is a chronic, progressive disease marked by the death of nerves that control voluntary muscle movement.

The scientists found the phosphate-deficient alpha synuclein in rats bred to have a form of Parkinson's disease. Phophates are compounds containing phosphorus, and are important in many bodily processes.

Rats that were given a gene therapy that stimulated the growth of the phosphate did not develop the Parkinson-like illness.

"This is one more piece of information about what might be causing the toxicity in Parkinson's disease, and it gives us a little more to go on about what alpha-synuclein does in the brain," said University of Florida Professor Nicholas Muzyczka, one of the study's authors.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.