Preventing Toxic Effects Of Protein Aggregation In Parkinson’s Disease

Researchers have shown that a new class of small molecule can inhibit assembly of the protein alpha-synuclein into toxic clumps, a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. Their work supports other ongoing investigations suggesting that the compound may be useful as a neuroprotective agent for treating a range of diseases characterized by the clumping of amyloid proteins, including Alzheimer’s disease, various types of amyloidosis, and prion disease.