News

Electroconductive hydrogels prevented the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells (neurons) and motor function when injected into the brain, a study in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease showed. The gels were also able to promote neuronal growth and prevent inflammation in cell cultures. “Our work is the first to…

BlueRock Therapeutics has completed full enrollment in its open-label Phase 1 study evaluating the safety and preliminary efficacy of its investigational cell-based therapy BRT-DA01 for advanced Parkinson’s disease. The therapy is designed to ease motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients who do not fully respond to regular medications. The…

A team of researchers has designed nanoparticles able to restore the function of mitochondria — cells’ energy production centers — and improve motor behavior in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. Experiments in cell cultures revealed that the nanoparticles could restore function of reversibly damaged mitochondria and promote the…

Scientists have developed tiny sensors that allow the high-resolution detection of dopamine — the brain chemical messenger progressively lost in people with Parkinson’s disease — in nerve cells grown in the lab. “These sensors visualise the release of dopamine from nerve cells with unprecedented resolution,” according to…

NRG Therapeutics has received a £2.68M (about $3.4 million) award to support preclinical work into small molecule disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The two-year Biomedical Catalyst award given the company is for early stage research in treatments to protect mitochondria in the brain, and is partly funded…

Stem cells in the lab were turned into nerve cells (neurons) that can make dopamine — the chemical that is lacking in patients with Parkinson’s disease — and transferred into the brain of rats with a form of parkinsonism, where they worked to restore lost motor function, a study…

UCB, a global pharmaceutical company, is looking for men and women with early-stage Parkinson’s disease who want to take part in a Phase 2 clinical study that will test UCB0599, an investigational small molecule that prevents alpha-synuclein protein from folding into a wrong shape and building up to…

Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics reported that it has developed, using stem cells from people with Parkinson’s disease, dopaminergic neurons containing two common, disease-associated mutations for use in Parkinson’s research. Stem cell donors were patients involved in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) through the Michael J. Fox Foundation…

Blood levels of c-reactive protein (CRP) and the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), two indicators of systemic inflammation, were associated with the presence of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) in people with Parkinson’s disease, a study found. Patients with RBD also had worse cognition than those who did…

Researchers have developed a new suppressor of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) — an enzyme whose activity is associated with neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions — that can robustly enter the brain and appears to be more potent than previous, similar molecules. When injected into the bloodstream, the new molecule, named 25-106,…