Prions, beta-amyloid and synuclein, by contrast, are full of sticky structures called beta-sheets that react willy-nilly with crucial proteins.

FORBES: Health

When researchers then looked inside Lewy bodies, the mysterious globs in the brains of Parkinson's patients, they found abundant synuclein.

FORBES: Health

Lansbury's team helped build the case, showing in 1998 that the mutant synuclein proteins formed clusters more readily than normal synuclein.

FORBES: Health

The gene findings showed that Parkinson's might also result from the buildup of brain debris, in this case globs of synuclein.

FORBES: Health

Parkinson's disease is characterized by clumps of abnormal brain proteins called Lewy bodies of which a-synuclein (a-syn) protein is the principal component.

WSJ: Exercise Benefits vs. Joint Concerns

Polymeropoulos, when he was at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, pinpointed a gene that causes a rare inherited form of the disease by spawning mutations in a protein called alpha-synuclein.

FORBES: Health