PNAs breakthrough! New molecules can reverse neurodegeneration caused by Parkinson's disease

September 29, 2018 / Biovalley / according to a new study completed by researchers from Barcelona Autonomous University (UAB), small molecule synuclean-d can interfere with the formation of alpha synuclein amyloid fibers that cause Parkinson's disease, thus reversing the neurodegenerative symptoms caused by Parkinson's disease The study was recently published in PNAS Photo source: PNAs Parkinson's disease is the second most common and incurable neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease It is characterized by the accumulation of proteins in dopaminergic neurons to form amyloid fibers These aggregates are mainly formed by alpha synuclein in a complex way, which makes it difficult to find small molecules that can prevent or reverse the process of PD related neurodegeneration The team led by researchers at the Institute of biotechnology and biomedicine (IBB) in UAB has found a small molecule that can prevent or even reverse this neurodegenerative process After analyzing more than 14000 molecules, they found that synuclean-d can inhibit the formation of alpha synuclein aggregates and destroy the already formed protein like fibers, thus preventing the initiation of biochemical processes that cause Parkinson's disease Through experiments on the most commonly used animal model of neurodegenerative diseases, Caenorhabditis elegans, the researchers found that taking this small molecule to nematodes through food can significantly reduce the formation of alpha synuclein aggregates, prevent the spread of toxic aggregates, so as to avoid the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons "All indications are that the molecule we found can be used in the future to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease." So says Salvador Ventura, a UAB researcher and the study's corresponding author To find this molecule, researchers developed a way to identify alpha synuclein aggregation inhibitors to find target molecules in thousands of molecules Once the target molecules are found, researchers will use an in vitro biophysical method to identify their inhibition ability Before animal experiments, they will verify their effect on human neuron cells Alpha synuclein is expressed in muscles or dopaminergic neurons of these nematodes The experimental results showed that after injection of the inhibitor, the protein aggregation decreased, the animal's ability to move improved, and their neurodegeneration could be prevented Reference materials: Jordi Pujols et al Small molecular inhibitors α - synuclein aggregation, disrupts ammoid fabrics, and precautions generation of dopaminergic circuits, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018) Doi: 10.1073/pnas.1804198115