Recent studies indicate an increased frequency of mutations in the gene encoding glucocerebrosidase (GBA), a deficiency of which causes Gaucher's disease, among patients with Parkinson's disease.
Abstract: Objective To investigate the changes in the firing activity of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) in a rat model of Parkinson disease (PD).
Even here, though, stem-cell therapists talk openly of treating brain diseases such as Parkinson's with specially grown nerve cells, so some form of partial immortalisation might be on the cards.