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The molecule α-synuclein (αSyn) is central to the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease (PD). But how αSyn causes the death of dopaminergic neurons, and how to prevent or treat that process, remain a mystery.
Increased intracellular production of αSyn causes yeast cells to die. A multi-institutional team determined that this increased production of αSyn blocked an important cellular function: the normal movement of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus. The researchers found a group of genes that, when activated or amplified, protected against αSyn-induced cell death. The team then showed that augmenting production of one of these genes (Rab1) in fruit flies and rats protected dopaminergic neurons from αSyn-induced death…