Research: Surprising role revealed for a clot busting enzyme in neurodegenerative disease

Neuronal degeneration, in particular damage to the "Purkinje neurons", occurs in many human disorders including Huntington's disease. Purkinje damage causes abnormal movement. Interestingly, we repeatedly observe high levels of the enzyme "tPA" in the brain during Purkinje damage. As tPA is an enzyme normally responsible for breaking down blood clots, the effect of such high tPA levels in the brain was unknown.