Parkinson’s disease which afflicted the late Muhammad Ali could be prevented after scientists discovered what actually causes it at a cellular level.
It had been thought some inherited forms of early-onset Parkinson’s disease have typically been blamed on poorly functioning mitochondria. These are the powerhouses of cells and without reliable sources of energy, neurons wither and die.
But Medical Research Council researchers at University of Leicester found this may not be the complete picture of what is happening within cells affected by Parkinson’s. Instead neurodegeneration was the result of stress on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) – part of the outer skin of the cell – rather than failure of the mitochondria as previously thought.
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