{"id":230792,"date":"2026-02-07T05:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T11:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/mutation-in-one-parkinsons-protein-eases-cellular-traffic-jams-caused-by-another"},"modified":"2026-02-07T05:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T11:30:21","slug":"mutation-in-one-parkinsons-protein-eases-cellular-traffic-jams-caused-by-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/mutation-in-one-parkinsons-protein-eases-cellular-traffic-jams-caused-by-another","title":{"rendered":"Mutation in one Parkinson\u2019s protein eases cellular traffic jams caused by another"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/mutation-in-one-parkinsons-protein-eases-cellular-traffic-jams-caused-by-another2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A hallmark of Parkinson\u2019s disease is the buildup of Lewy bodies\u2014misfolded clumps of the protein known as alpha-synuclein. Long before Lewy bodies form, alpha-synuclein can interfere with neurons\u2019 ability to transport proteins and other cargo along their axons to the synapses. When present at high levels, alpha-synuclein binds too tightly to structures inside the axon, creating the cellular equivalent of traffic jams. These disruptions may even help set the stage for the later accumulation of Lewy bodies in the brain.<\/p>\n<p>Now, University at Buffalo researchers have identified a way to reduce these traffic jams and restore flow\u2014by altering how <a href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2023-04-potential-therapeutic-parkinson-disease.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal\" rel=\"related\">alpha-synuclein<\/a> interacts with another Parkinson\u2019s-related protein known as leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2).<\/p>\n<p>In a study published last month, the researchers increased levels of specific mutant forms of LRRK2 in fruit fly larvae. They found that one mutation had a downstream effect on alpha-synuclein, limiting its ability to bind to cargo and disrupt axonal transport. The research is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnmol.2025.1667839\/full\" target=\"_blank\">published<\/a> in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A hallmark of Parkinson\u2019s disease is the buildup of Lewy bodies\u2014misfolded clumps of the protein known as alpha-synuclein. Long before Lewy bodies form, alpha-synuclein can interfere with neurons\u2019 ability to transport proteins and other cargo along their axons to the synapses. When present at high levels, alpha-synuclein binds too tightly to structures inside the axon, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}