26 February 2015
Scientists we fund at the University of Bath have developed a
way that might one day mean we could stop toxic build-up of a protein in Parkinson's.
Supporting this kind of innovative research approach is starting
to make imaginable today what seemed impossible a decade ago.
Dr Arthur Roach, our director of research and development
The research, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry,
has highlighted a new way to stop the protein called alpha-synuclein from
sticking together and killing cells.
Potential for new treatment
Dr Jody Mason, from the University of Bath's Department of
Biology & Biochemistry explains:
"If you think of the misshapen alpha-synuclein proteins as
Lego bricks which stack to form a tower; our peptide acts like a smooth brick
that sticks to the alpha-synuclein and stops the tower from growing any
bigger."
We need more successes
Dr Arthur Roach, our director of research and development, says:
Supporting this kind of innovative research approach is starting
to make imaginable today what seemed impossible a decade ago.
"It's a difficult task to develop treatments that can stop
the toxic build-up of proteins in the brains of people with Parkinson's.
"Supporting this kind of innovative research approach is
starting to make imaginable today what seemed impossible a decade ago.
"We need more successes, like this one, if we are to
develop drugs that could actually slow or stop the progression of Parkinson's. At the moment no
drugs are capable of doing this."
The next step
Researchers are now looking to test this further and hopefully
develop it into a drug that is effective in people.
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See more at: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/news/26-february-2015/potential-new-route-slow-parkinsons#sthash.mzvOaKfv.dpuf
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