2023-11-06 09:00:45
With nearly 10 million people affected worldwide and more than 270,000 in France, Parkinson’s disease is a real public health issue, particularly among elderly populations. It is caused by the death of a specific type of neurons in the brainstem, which severely disrupts movements in patients. Currently, only the symptoms of the disease are treated, as there is no treatment to prevent the death of affected neurons. Bruno Figadère, CNRS research director, and his team at the Biomolecules laboratory: design, isolation, synthesis, in close interaction with colleagues from the Brain Institute, are developing new molecules that could finally meet the need to treat Parkinson’s disease curatively, and prevent the neurodegeneration that characterizes it.
In certain neurons responsible for controlling movement we know that the double accumulation of iron and deposits of a specific protein, called alpha-synuclein, is very likely the cause of Parkinson’s disease. In fact, these two accumulations are progressively toxic for these neurons and cause their death, which then seriously disrupts the motor skills of affected people.
One of the compounds with promising therapeutic potential to combat this disease is doxycycline. It is an antibiotic medication used in the treatment of certain skin pathologies. “ Its effects against the death of vulnerable neurons are very well described in the scientific literature. But as it is an antibiotic, long-term treatment is difficult to envisage, because it would select resistant bacteria and disrupt the microbial flora of patients, leading to a cascade of side effects. » warns Bruno Figadère.
This is where the chemical expertise of the team of scientists comes in: “ Modifying substances is our specialty. We have created doxycycline derivatives that no longer have antibiotic activity, and we are currently testing those that are most effective in neutralizing the aforementioned degenerative mechanisms, namely the accumulation of iron and protein deposits in neuronal cells. vulnerable enthuses Bruno Figadère. But this research would not have been possible without the work of scientists from the Brain Institute, who study very precisely the mechanisms at the origin of the disease. »
This work, winner of the Brain Institute’s NeurAL acceleration program, is the result of the meeting between these two teams and their interdisciplinary synergies. The BioCIS team is currently looking for new financial support to set up a start-up in order to accelerate and intensify the development of their drug candidate. Ultimately, this work could pave the way for long-term treatment of the causes of Parkinson’s disease, making it possible to neutralize its symptoms and thus restore a better quality of life in those affected.
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