Ira Milosevic, a scientist at the newly created Institute for Research on Aging in Coimbra, has found a way to investigate, live and without poking the brain, how communication between neurons works in patients with neurodegenerative diseases or people who might suffer from them.
His research began with endophyllin, a protein that seemed to be involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Over the years, he discovered that this protein was so vital that the human genome included several similar copies of its gene. In mice, those with only one or a few copies of the gene developed neurodegeneration earlier than those with all the expected copies.
“The protein we studied plays a key role in the synapses between neurons, or how signals and impulses are transmitted in the nervous system,” says Milosevic. “It helps to recycle synaptic vesicles, small sacs that neurons use to send nerve signals from one neuron to the surface of another. If they go wrong, so do the circuits between neurons; and with it, the functions of the nervous system”, explains the researcher.
His technique makes it possible to analyze whether the structures in which the nerve signals are packaged are produced correctly and, from there, define whether there will be a greater or lesser predisposition to suffer from a neurodegenerative disease. “Although it looks promising, much remains to be investigated. Knowing how these neuronal sacs are formed, transmitted and recycled will allow us to develop better solutions to treat neurodegenerative diseases or prevent them in time”, he affirms.
The desire to investigate these diseases struck her as a child, when she saw how dementia progressed in her grandmother. “I would like my children to be able to go to a health center at the age of 30 or 40 where they are prescribed what to do to delay the onset of the disease as much as possible,” she wishes.
