Scientists produce compound that may treat Parkinson’s disease

WASHINGTON - The first known compound to show significant effectiveness in protecting brain cells directly affected by Parkinson’s disease, a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder, has been produced by the scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute.

Although the findings were in animal models of the disease, the effectiveness of the compound, combined with its potential to be taken orally, offers the possibility of a potentially useful future therapy for Parkinson’s disease patients.

“These studies present compelling data on the first oral, brain-penetrating inhibitor to show significant efficacy in preventing neurodegeneration in both mouse and rat models of Parkinson’s disease,” said team leader Philip LoGrasso, a professor in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics and senior director for drug discovery at Scripps Florida.

“The compound offers one of the best opportunities we have for the development of an effective neuroprotective treatment.”

The new small molecule-labeled SR-3306-is aimed at inhibiting a class of enzymes called c-jun-N-terminal kinases (JNK). Pronounced “junk,” these enzymes have been shown to play an important role in neuron (nerve cell) survival. As such, they have become a highly viable target for drugs to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

“A drug like SR-3306 that prevents neurodegeneration would be a quantum leap in the clinical treatment of Parkinson’s because all current therapies treat only the symptoms of the disease, not the underlying pathologies,” LoGrasso said.

The results were published in two separate studies in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience. (ANI)