Unwelcome Return

GENETICISTS in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that although the human immune system can create a diverse antibody repertoire, the antibodies do not act randomly on invading viruses but retain a molecular lock on the areas of a virus the antibodies were first taught to recognize. Because viruses make tiny amino acid changes as they mutate, the resulting variants can elude antibodies produced during earlier infections or vaccinations, allowing the viruses to invade and trigger reinfections.

Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease, is often associated with the presence of Lewy bodies, which are abnormal clumpings of the protein alphasynuclein. In this illustration of a neuron, the Lewy bodies are shown as small red spheres.

Skin Deep

A SKIN TEST THAT MEASURES the deposition and distribution of a protein linked with neurodegeneration in multiple system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease is capable of accurately identifying patients with MSA versus patients with Parkinson’s. Symptoms of the disorders look alike, making accurate differential diagnoses difficult. The findings by HMS researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center could improve diagnostic tests for these diseases and help in clinical care, research, and life planning for patients with MSA, a disease that affects up to 50,000 U.S. adults.