EU-funded researchers in Germany have discovered that three factors need to coincide for the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson's disease to develop. The findings, which are published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology, are an important step forward in our understanding of what causes the debilitating condition.

The new findings are an outcome of the NEURONE ('Molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration: from cell biology to the clinic') project, financed with EUR 8.3 million under the 'Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health' Thematic area of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), and of the MOLPARK ('Molecular mechanisms of neuronal restoration: novel approaches for Parkinson's disease') project, financed with EUR 3.47 million under the Health Theme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Further support was given by the EU's Marie Curie scheme. Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology has developed the research.

As the world's population ages, it is becoming imperative that the mechanisms of degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, which normally develops between the ages of 45 and 60, are discovered. The EU is focusing its efforts on research on the field of degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer.

Parkinson's is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) and affects more than 300,000 people in Germany alone. It is estimated that over 6 million people suffer from the disease worldwide, and the number continues to grow. Parkinson's affects motor skills, speech, muscle control, movement and balance. Sufferers often shake and are unable to control the movements of their limbs.

Parkinson's develops as a result of a reduction in activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. Despite years of extensive research, however, scientists have still not been able to discover what causes the molecular changes that trigger this development.

Several breakthroughs have occurred in Parkinson's research in the past 10 years including the identification of various genes involved in the development of the hereditary form of the disease. Other research has shown that nerve cell growth factors, such as GDNF (glial cell derived neurotrophic factor), have been found to reduce the rate at which nerve cells are destroyed in the parts of the brain affected by Parkinson's.

The team's breakthrough, which has been published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology, occurred when they discovered that in mouse models, cell death in the substantia nigra (the midbrain) took place when three particular factors were present: a defective disease gene (the DJ-1 gene), a deficiency in responding to a growth factor, and the ageing of the mouse.