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neurology
Parkinson's is caused by a genetic defect, scientists from the University College London Institute of Neurology found out in a new study. This genetic defect ensures that our body no longer degrades defective mitochondria.
Mitochondria are components of a body cell surrounded by a double membrane, which contain their own genetic material and function as "energy power plants" in the human organism. They occur mainly in muscle, nerve, sensory and oocytes.
Our body has a kind of control system that precisely breaks down such defective mitochondria in the body. This organic process is called " mitophagy ". In the current study, the researchers have now found that the process can be ignored and mutations in the gene FBxo7 the defective mitochondria can remain in the body.
In people who are diagnosed with Parkinson's, therefore, accumulate these defective mitochondria in the body increasingly, which ultimately leads to the death of the brain cells.
The recent study, published in the Nature Neuroscience Magazine, concludes that " mitophagia " is the key to success in the future diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease .
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