They discover a key protein in the development of Parkinson’s disease

Recent research has identified an important link between a protein called galectin-3 (gal3) and Parkinson’s disease.

The study is the work of specialists from the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS) in Spain, in collaboration with the University of Lund (Sweden) and Imperial College London (United Kingdom).

According to the results, gal3 plays a crucial role in the development and progression of this neurodegenerative disease, making it a potential therapeutic target of great interest for the treatment of the disease.

The study was led by doctors José Luis Venero (IBiS), Tomas Deierborg (University of Lund) and Francesco A. Aprile (Imperial College London).

The research highlights the role of the gal3 protein in Parkinson’s disease, known for the death of neurons responsible for coordinating movement. This protein is known to be involved in other neurodegenerative processes (such as Alzheimer’s disease) and various metabolic diseases, which increases its relevance in the field of medical research.

By studying the brains of deceased patients with Parkinson’s disease and transgenic mice without the gal3 protein, the direct association between the presence of gal3 and the formation of Lewy bodies, which are toxic accumulations of proteins that appear in neurons affected by the disease, was demonstrated. parkinson. These findings are significant since when transgenic mice without gal3 were subjected to a model of Parkinson’s disease, they did not develop motor symptoms or experience loss of neurons. “It is important to highlight that these mice did not develop any type of symptoms and their neurons remained apparently healthy, despite accumulating Lewy bodies. This indicates that by eliminating gal3, we were able to delay and slow down the progression of the disease”, emphasizes Dr. Juan García Revilla, co-author of the study and researcher in the Neuronal Aging group of the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS). “If we could translate these results to the human level, it would be an important advance in the treatment of Parkinson’s, since there are currently no therapies that can change or delay the course of the disease. We are confident that the relevance of gal3 in humans will also be high, as this protein is widely present in the brains of Parkinson’s patients.”

This discovery opens new perspectives for the development of therapies directed at the gal3 protein, which opens the door to new possibilities in the management, mitigation and treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

Galectin-3 (in green) surrounds a Lewy body (in red) and interacts with it. (Image: IBIS)

The path to a potential treatment

“The animal model has been a pleasant surprise due to the complete neuronal protection that we observed”, reaffirms Dr. Juan García Revilla. However, the development of a possible treatment is still long. “We believe that a treatment against galectin-3 could be tremendously useful for the treatment of the disease. If the effects were replicated in animals, symptomatic treatments could be effective for more years and the patient could maintain a better quality of life.”

However, explains the expert, there is still a lot to learn about Parkinson’s disease: “We do not know the causes that initiate Parkinson’s, but our discovery helps to learn more about the progression of the disease and the relationship between Lewy bodies and neuron death. In turn, we proved that it is possible to unlink both things and that we can protect neurons during the disease”.

According to the researcher, there are already drugs directed against galectin-3 for other diseases. “Our previous study in Alzheimer’s disease has been the basis for a clinical trial against gal3 which, for the moment, is showing great promise, although it is in the very early stages. We are confident that a similar trial could have a great impact in Parkinson’s disease. This study represents a great step forward in our understanding of the disease, but, of course, there is still a lot of work to be done”, concludes the expert.

The study is titled “Galectin-3 shapes toxic alpha-synuclein strains in Parkinson’s disease”. And it has been published in the academic journal Acta Neuropathologica. (Source: IBIS)