Parkinson’s Disease Protein Acts Like a Virus, Study Reveals

Researchers at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine have discovered that a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease has the ability to enter and hurt cells the way that viruses do. Known as alpha-synuclein, the protein breaks out of the digestive compartments of the cell once it enters the neuron. This process is similar to that of how a cold virus enters a cell during an infection. The findings could lead to new Parkinson’s treatments, a means to delay its onset or to halt its progression altogether. Click here to read the full story.