Protein Combo Found to Exert Regenerating Effect in Parkinson’s
Alzheimer‘s disease and Parkinson’s disease are the most common neurodegenerative diseases worldwide. Despite all the efforts made by the scientific community, current available treatments have limited effectiveness, without halting the progression of the disease.
Parkinson’s is a motor neuron disorder characterised by a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain. These nerve cells are found in the black substance of the brain, where they produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, a key modulator of involuntary movement.
Two factors; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Glial Cell-derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF), are proteins that play an essential role in nerve cell function by inducing cell growth, plasticity and survival.
Now, scientists at the University of the Basque Country have found that these two neurotrophic factors work in synergy to benefit patients with early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
The results showed that the changes caused by the condition were not homogeneous in the different parts of the brain affected. “The impairment is correlated with the specific anatomic distribution of the dopaminergic neurons and their terminals,” pointed out the researcher Catalina Requejo.
In the course of the study, therapeutic strategies based on the release of neurotrophic factors were applied
. Since these factors encourage cell growth, plasticity and survival, they therefore play an essential role in controlling neuronal function.The Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and the Glial Cell-derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) were delivered encapsulated in microspheres or in nanospheres, even smaller than the former, comprising a biocompatible, biodegradable polymer: Poly Lactic-co-glycolic Acid (PLGA), which allows them to be released continuously and gradually. Furthermore, the factors were administered in a combined way to determine whether, together, they induced a synergistic effect.
The results were encouraging in both the early and severe phase of the model. The combining of the VEGF and GDNF not only significantly reduced the degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons of the black substance, it also induced the formation of new cells and cellular differentiation.
“The consequences for the dopaminergic system were even worse, which supports the beneficial synergistic effects exerted by the VEFG and the GDNF in Parkinson’s,” concluded the researcher.
These Spanish researchers have opened the door on a new approach to the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that, along with Alzheimers and ALS, is proving a massive challenge for biotech and pharma alike.
