Scientists Identify Toxicity Mechanism for Lewy Bodies

People with Lewy body disease and Parkinson's disease have Lewy bodies in the cells of their brain. (Lewy bodies are microscopic protein deposits found in deteriorating nerve cells.) The presence of Lewy bodies suggests underlying problems in protein recycling and waste disposal, but it was not known how disrupting those processes kills brain cells. Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have now discovered what could be an important pathway for controlling cell loss and survival.

The main component of Lewy bodies is a protein called alpha-synuclein. An accumulation of alpha-synuclein is toxic to cells. The researchers have now found that alpha-synuclein disrupts a cell survival circuit known as MEF2D. An accumulation of alpha-synuclein interferes with the cell's recycling of MEF2D, leading to cell death.

The hope is that further research could identify drugs to regulate MEF2D, allowing brain cells to survive toxic stresses that impair protein recycling.

For more information, see the press release about this research. The research was published in Science on January 2, 2009; see the abstract online.

So do you suppose that someone who has kidney disease would be more likely to develop LBD because of the waste not being eliminated like in a person with healthy kidneys?

So how long do we have to wait before something is released and people with LBD can get some relief? Keep the lobbists away from Congress and maybe we can take care of health care!

Scientist, do you know whether these data show only an association or has 'cause and effect' been shown? Could not the same underlying problem be responsible for both conditions? I have not read the article but it does certainly sound interesting!

Scientist, Yes I am interested in finding out the latest. I read the article but it didn't make much sense to me.