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Parkinson’s is partly an autoimmune disease, study finds

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Parkinson's is partly an autoimmune disease, study finds

First direct evidence that abnormal protein in Parkinson’s disease triggers immune response

Researchers have found the first direct evidence that autoimmunity — in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues — plays a role in Parkinson’s disease, the neurodegenerative movement disorder. The findings raise the possibility that the death of neurons in Parkinson’s could be prevented by therapies that dampen the immune response.

The study, led by scientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, was published in Nature.

Scientists once thought that neurons were protected from autoimmune attacks. However, in a 2014 study, Dr. Sulzer’s lab demonstrated that dopamine neurons (those affected by Parkinson’s disease) are vulnerable because they have proteins on the cell surface that help the immune system recognize foreign substances. As a result, they concluded, T cells had the potential to mistake neurons damaged by Parkinson’s disease for foreign invaders.

The new study found that T cells can be tricked into thinking dopamine neurons are foreign by the build-up of damaged alpha-synuclein proteins, a key feature of Parkinson’s disease. Dopamine neurons become filled with structures called Lewy bodies, which are primarily composed of a misfolded form of alpha-synuclein.

In the study, the researchers exposed blood samples from 67 Parkinson’s disease patients and 36 age-matched healthy controls to fragments of alpha-synuclein and other proteins found in neurons. They analyzed the samples to determine which of the protein fragments, triggered an immune response. Little immune cell activity was seen in blood samples from the controls. In contrast, T cells in patients’ blood samples, which had been apparently primed to recognize alpha-synuclein from past exposure, showed a strong response to the protein fragments. In particular, the immune response was associated with a common form of a gene found in the immune system, which may explain why many people with Parkinson’s disease carry this gene variant.

Their findings raise the possibility that an immunotherapy approach could be used to increase the immune system’s tolerance for alpha-synuclein, which could help to ameliorate or prevent worsening symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients.