Dorothea Pinotsi is the head of the researcher team of the Department Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology of University of Cambridge that identified when Parkinson’s proteins become toxic to brain cells.

The discovery, published in ‘PNAS’, opens significant passage in the medical community regarding the “how” and “why” manifested the particular neurodegenerative disease and the search for and the granting of new therapies.

Parkinson’s disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide (after Alzheimer’s disease). More than seven million worldwide, have the disease, while symptoms include muscle tremors, stiffness and difficulty walking. Dementia is common in later stages of the disease.

The research shows how important it is to fully understand the processes at work behind neurodegenerative diseases, so that the right step in the process can be targeted. “With these optical super-resolution techniques, we can really see details we couldn’t see before, so we may be able to counteract this toxic effect at an early stage,” said Pinotsi.

Researchers have used a non-invasive method of observing how the process leading to Parkinson’s disease takes place at the nanoscale, and identified the point in the process at which proteins in the brain become toxic, eventually leading to the death of brain cells.

The results of research suggest that the same protein can either cause, or protect against, the toxic effects that lead to the death of brain cells, depending on the specific structural form it takes.

The work could help unravel how and why people develop Parkinson’s, and aid in the search for potential treatments.

“By observing how serious diseases are developing, we aim to find new methods for early detection of the diseases and their treatment. This is my passion and my goal. To contribute to the development of techniques that can shed light on diseases, ” Pinotsi told ‘Proto Thema’ newspaper. Pinotsi studied Electrical Engineeringat National Technical University of Athens, before moving to Zurich to study Doctor of Philosophy at Technical university of Zurich.
However, when referring to Greece and the current economic situation, she tones her excitement and enthusiasm down.

“I am very sad seeing Greece facing such a crisis and that most of its work force and especially young scientists are forced to go abroad,” she said.

When she left Greece in 2006 to study in Switzerland, she thought that she would stay there just for a short time. But, now she believes that it is very difficult for her to return to Greece, since there are no opportunities for young scientists.

“It’s a shame that our country does not keep up with the other countries in scientific and technological progress, because Greece can do it,” she said adding: “We have the potential, we have young enthusiastic people who are well-educated. But we do not have the opportunity to come back and create something new, something important”.