Scientists reveal new organelle, potential answer to neurodegenerative diseases

Just when humanity thought there are no more to discover inside the body, an elusive organelle inside the human cell reveals itself.

Scientists from the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health discovered a new organelle that could provide the cure to long-standing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Hemifusome, according to the researchers, is a type of specialized structure within the cell that serves a very important role in the cell cycle—a process where a cell goes through growth and division to form new cells. 

For years, scientists have studied the cell, establishing fundamental knowledge about how the body of different organisms work. However, it is just until now that new things are found inside the cell, making this discovery one of the rarest. 

“It’s exciting because finding something truly new inside cells is rare – and it gives us a whole new path to explore,” UVA’s Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics researcher Seham Ebrahim said. 

The scientists were able to capture this organelle using an advanced technique called cryo-electron tomography which, according to the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) Microbiology Society, is an imaging technique that flash-freezes the cell in a very detailed 3D image. 

According to the researchers, the hemifusome does the job of assisting the cells in sorting, packaging, and recycling materials, essentially making it like the ‘loading dock’ of the cell. 

“The hemifusome is like a loading dock where they connect and transfer cargo. It’s a step in the process we didn’t know existed,” Ebrahim explained. 

However, in the case of neurodegenerative disorders—diseases that mostly target the nervous system—these problems are caused by how cells handle cargo. Hence, hinting that this new organelle can be the key to provide a cure for such disorders.  

For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia or memory loss with about 50 million cases globally. Scientists believe that this is caused by sudden genetic changes that occur within the brain cell’s proteins which are the “cargo” that the hemifusome is handling. 

“We think the hemifusome helps manage how cells package and process material, and when this goes wrong, it may contribute to diseases that affect many systems in the body,” the researchers stated.

Understanding the hemifusome, its importance, and its function is the next step towards a possible cure for such diseases; and while it has eluded humanity for decades, it is only a matter of time before scientists determine its true purpose.