Certain compounds that hinder cells from destroying waste proteins can produce symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in rats, researchers report. That finding could lead to a new animal model for studying the brain disorder. It also raises the possibility that environmental exposure to a class of compounds known as proteasome inhibitors explains some cases of Parkinson’s in people.
In Parkinson’s disease, neurons die in certain brain areas and abnormal proteins form clusters in other neurons there. Tremors, rigidity, sluggish movement, and balance problems mark the progressive ailment.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.