The clue to detect multiple systems atrophy?

In a study, recently published in Nature, a fluorescent tracer molecule similar to Amytracker has been used to detect α-synuclein aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with synucleopathy.

Interestingly, the fluorescent tracer molecule was binding aggregates from patients with Multiple Systems Atrophy with higher affinity than aggregates from patients with Parkinson’s Disease.

While aggregates of α-synuclein in distinct synucleinopathies have been proposed to represent different conformational strains of α-synuclein, this is the first study that provides distinct clues that can be used in future diagnostic assays.

• Shahnawaz M. et al. (2020) Discriminating α-Synuclein Strains in Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple System Atrophy. Nature 578 (7794): 273–77.