New Delhi, Oct 2
Scientists have, for the first time, directly visualised the way Parkinson's disease gets 'triggered' in human brain tissue.
Using a newly developed technique, called ASA-PD (Advanced Sensing of Aggregates for Parkinson's Disease), researchers from the University of Cambridge and University College London, UK, could see, count, and compare the protein clusters called alpha-synuclein oligomers in human brain tissue.
Oligomers have long been considered the likely culprits behind Parkinson's, but until now, these tiny clusters -- just a few nanometres long -- have evaded direct detection in human brain tissue.
Using ASA-PD with ultra-sensitive fluorescence microscopy, the team could, for the first time, detect and analyse millions of oligomers in post-mortem brain tissue.