The Presidium of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 prizes to the winners of the competition for scientific works by young scientists and doctoral students. Among the laureates is Dr. Andrius Sakalauskas, a researcher at the Life Sciences Center of Vilnius University (VU LSC).
In the Section of Biology, Medicine, and Geosciences, he received the award for the study Formation of Distinct Alpha-Synuclein Aggregate Structures in Artificial Cerebrospinal Fluid.
The study focused on the protein alpha-synuclein (aSyn), which is naturally found in the human brain and is well known for its role in the onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease. Under certain conditions, this protein can form toxic accumulations – aggregates –found both inside and outside cells. It is believed that the initial aggregates form within the cell and are later actively released into the extracellular space, from where they may spread and enter other cells.
To better understand this process, Dr. A. Sakalauskas recreated conditions similar to those of human cerebrospinal fluid in the laboratory and investigated how aSyn protein aggregates form in this environment.
“We believe that one of the major gaps in this research field lies in the mismatch between experimental and physiological conditions. In many previous studies, researchers were unable to form aSyn aggregates in the laboratory that resemble those isolated from patients with Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, or other diseases associated with aSyn. Therefore, in this study, we did not aim to work under simply convenient laboratory conditions – we searched for ways to recreate the physiological environment as accurately as possible,” said Dr. A. Sakalauskas.
The research showed that components of the extracellular environment can significantly influence the structure and stability of protein aggregates. It was found that one type of aggregate is stabilized by human serum albumin, a protein abundantly present in the extracellular environment.
According to the researcher, the results also raise new questions. For example, whether protein aggregates migrating from one cell to another through the extracellular space can change their structure and thus lead to different forms of the disease or variations in its progression. Further research analyzing a broader range of physiological components will be needed to confirm this.
Every year, the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences organizes a competition for scientific works by young scientists and doctoral students to encourage the creative activity of early-career researchers. Diplomas and commendations for the prize winners will be presented at the LMA General Assembly in April 2026.