Yale to open new center for advanced research into Parkinson’s
American Parkinson Disease Association supports work into precision therapies
The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is funding a new APDA Center for Advanced Research at Yale University’s School of Medicine, the newest of nine such centers in its U.S. network, in recognition of the school’s work into the causes and the potential for personalized treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
A total of $1.125 million is being given to the nine centers for 2024-25, the association announced on a webpage. Centers are selected by the APDA based on their capacity to advance research and offer educational opportunities, as well as to provide clinical and dedicated patient care.
The new center will be the first to focus on developing precision therapies for Parkinson’s, treatments that are customized to an individual’s particular genetic makeup or disease characteristics, Yale reported in a university news release.
Its recognition comes with seed funding for studies aiming to unveil key pathways or steps involved in Parkinson’s development, supporting work into more targeted therapies, the release noted. Money awarded Yale, whose total was not announced, also will help to train new researchers and support additional educational outreach.
APDA supporting more extensive work into cell recycling, mitochondria
“Our goal is to develop the future of precision medicine for Parkinson’s disease by bringing together the entire Yale community — the physician-scientists, researchers, engineers — to work together and identify its underlying genes and mechanisms,” said Clemens Scherzer, MD, a professor of neurology who will lead the center.
Scherzer also is director of the Adams Center for Parkinson’s Disease Research at Yale, leading work dedicated to discovering genes, drug targets, and biomarkers related to Parkinson’s, and to creating personalized disease treatments.
One project funded by the APDA is a collaboration between three laboratories at the Yale medical school, whose work suggests that problems in the recycling mechanisms of small vesicles, called synaptic vesicles, may be a cause of Parkinson’s in patients.
Nerve cells communicate by releasing signaling molecules, called neurotransmitters, contained inside synaptic vesicles; after neurotransmitters are released, the vesicles need to return to the cell, being recycled so they can be used again.
Scherzer’s team previously created a Parkinson’s gene activity map that includes genes which another Yale lab found to be involved in synaptic vesicle recycling. Additionally, the alpha-synuclein protein that turns toxic and accumulates in patients’ nerve cells also may play a role.
“Now we’re joining forces to test whether these genes associated with Parkinson’s disease work together with alpha-synuclein to perturb this key mechanism,” Scherzer said.
In another project, a team led by Monika Sharma, PhD, will study whether the beta-2 adrenergic receptor, which binds noradrenaline (a neurotransmitter), mediate changes in mitochondrial function in Parkinson’s disease.
Mitochondria are cellular compartments needed for cells to produce energy, and problems in the workings of mitochondria are commonly observed in Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions.
Researchers will assess if the loss of noradrenaline that occurs at early disease stages contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction.
“The center will be a glue that brings together all of the Parkinson’s researchers at Yale. It will help to launch junior investigators and seeds high-risk projects that otherwise wouldn’t be funded,” Scherzer said.
About the Author
