Towards A Parkinson’s Vaccine

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Nature reports on progress towards a vaccine for Parkinson's disease - but it's early days yet. "A vaccine developed to fight brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease has shown promise in preliminary animal trials. But experts caution that the positive results may not translate into an effective treatment for humans. The formation of abnormal protein aggregates in the brain, known as Lewy bodies, has been linked to several neurological disorders in adults. ... Many think that getting the immune system to attack the protein aggregates is a good step towards finding a treatment. So several research teams have been pursuing therapeutic vaccines. Biologists have already succeeded in giving mice specially designed immune cells to save them from neurological damage. Now they have gone a step further by getting mice to produce their own immune protection through a series of injections."

Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050613/full/050613-5.html