EJS-ACT PD
This week an announcement was made regarding The Edmond J. Safra Accelerating Clinical Treatments for Parkinson’s Disease (EJS-ACT PD) Initiative. It is hoping to revolutionise the way clinical trials for potentially disease-modifying drugs for Parkinson’s are conducted. The project is focused on the setting up a multi-arm, multi-stage (MAMS) platform for […]
Unmasking LRRK2 and GBA
Connecting genetics and biology is complicated. Researchers around the world have struggled to determine what each functional region of DNA is doing individually, let alone in combination with other regions. And sometimes when the output of combinations is examined, the results can be unexpected. Recently, researchers looked at the consequences of […]
UCB at ANN looks A-OK
Alpha synuclein is one of the most common proteins in our brains and it has long been associated with Parkinson’s. The protein appears to clump together forming dense clusters ( or “aggregates“) in the Parkinsonian brain, and this may be related to the progressive neurodegeneration. Researchers have been desperately seeking small […]
What is GDNF without RET?
Neurotrophic factors – like Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (or GDNF) – hold great hope for regenerative therapy in Parkinson’s research. New research, however, indicates that simply injecting the protein into the brain may not be enough. Scientists at Rush University Medical Center (in Chicago) conducted a postmortem analysis of brains […]
Trying to LIMP-2 the lysosome
Lysosomes are small bags of enzymes that are used to break down material inside of cells – digesting newly absorbed food or recycling old/used proteins and rubbish. Recently researchers have been discovering increasing evidence that points towards dysfunction in lysosomes as a key influential player in neurodegenerative conditions, like Parkinson’s. There […]