A promising discovery for a treatment for Parkinson’s disease

The official Oxford University website stated that a study led by Dr. Nora Bengoa Virginie from the Oxford Center for Parkinson’s Diseases showed that compounds known as molecular tweezers could become a promising treatment for modifying Parkinson’s disease.

The treatment previously showed a high potential to target toxic protein clumps that form in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, so the research teams investigated whether a specific molecular forceps, CLR01, was able to reduce protein clump formation in cell and mouse models of Parkinson’s disease.

The study showed that CLR01 is able to reduce Parkinson’s alpha-synuclein protein clusters and prevent the death of human neurons that were generated from stem cells.

Advertisements

The researchers tested CLR01 in a mouse model with Parkinson’s disease that stimulates the formation of protein clusters and mimics the motor symptoms experienced by people with this condition, which can include tremors and slow movement. Brain, and most importantly, the team showed that CLR01 was less effective in older animals with more advanced Parkinson’s disease.

This work demonstrates that the use of preventive treatments early in Parkinson’s disease is essential for effective treatment.These pooled results highlight that CLR01 is a candidate for treating Parkinson’s disease, and highlight the need for more research in this area.

“The future investment in identifying the appropriate treatment window for these types of therapeutic agents is critical to the success of these treatment strategies and others,” said lead researcher, Dr. Nora Bengoa Virginie.

Professor Richard Wade Martins, president of the Oxford Parkinson Center for Disease and lead author of the study, said: “This is very exciting work that shows that drug therapies can be developed to de-select toxic protein groups to preserve neurons in Parkinson’s models. Our work focuses on developing new approaches to saving neurons when they begin to lose their function. “Early on, but before you die later in this state, this is very exciting work showing that drug therapies can be developed to cancel the selection of toxic protein groups to preserve neurons in models of Parkinson’s disease.”