Tiago Fleming Outeiro

The incidence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other neurodegenerative disorders increases with old age although the reason(s) why is not clear. But now in an article to come out this week in the journal Science1 researchers at Harvard describe a direct link between aging and neurodegeneration as well as a potential new treatment against PD. The study shows how inhibition of SIRT2- a member of the sirtuin family, which is linked to aging – prevents the toxicity of the protein aggregates that are believed to be behind the neuronal death characteristic of PD. Interestingly, and contrarily to “classic” approaches that try to eliminate these aggregates, SIRT2 inhibition appears to work by “fusing” many small protein aggregates into larger (apparently less neuro-toxic) ones. The research by showing that aging and neurodegeneration can be linked opens the door to a total new type of therapeutic approaches not only towards PD, but also other neurodegenerative diseases linked to aberrant protein deposits in the brain and known to become worst with age.

* This article is the result of a project for the divulgation of portuguese science" http://www.cienciahoje.pt/1455"