News

D&D Pharmatech has launched a new company called Valted Seq, aimed at discovering pathways and biomarkers relevant to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. To this end, the company claims in a press release to have created the world’s largest repository of single-cell sequencing data. This data comes…

Astrocytes, the star-shaped cells that provide physical support for neurons in the brain, also appear to contribute to the development and progression of Parkinson’s disease, a recent study suggests. Compared with healthy astrocytes, those containing Parkinson’s mutations showed multiple hallmarks of the disease, including the presence of…

A partnership between Kizik and the Parkinson’s Foundation aims to make the company’s hands-free shoes more available to Parkinson’s patients. The collaboration includes a Kizik donation of an unspecified amount to the nonprofit organization. And it is in keeping with the foundation’s goal of making life better for …

The levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 or MCP-1 — a molecule that helps guide certain types of immune cells to inflammation sites — in the cerebrospinal fluid are associated with disease progression in people with Parkinson’s, a study shows. But the MCP-1 levels in the clear fluid…

A high-resolution 3D model of the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) protein provides some hints as to how this molecule participates in Parkinson’s disease — and suggests ways to sidestep its abnormal behavior, a new study reported. In its active form, LRRK2 binds to structures of the cell’s…

In the presence of mitochondrial dysfunction, nerve cells (neurons) switch to an alternative metabolic program to resist neurodegeneration, according to a recent study in mice. Interestingly, the data suggested that such a metabolic program is not a one-way road to neurodegeneration, but rather a compensatory mechanism that can be reversed…

PointClickCare has developed a new software tool to aid in the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease psychosis. The tool, developed in partnership with the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), is programmed to ask patients a series of questions regarding hallucinations and/or delusions. Based on the responses, senior care…

Impaired recycling of mitochondria — the powerhouses of the cell — may drive the loss of the neurons at the heart of Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study. Boosting the cell’s ability to remove old mitochondria and produce new ones then may prove an effective way to prevent…

The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) has awarded $1.4 million toward research into Parkinson’s disease for 2020–2021, including the first-ever Diversity in Parkinson’s Disease Research Grant. Following the first APDA Diversity in Parkinson’s Disease Research Conference held in May 2019, at which experts discussed the impact…

The total amount of alpha-synuclein in certain fluids and tissues failed to accurately distinguish between people with Parkinson’s disease and healthy individuals, and cannot be used to help diagnose the disease earlier, a large study has now shown. According to the study, levels of this protein in the…