Scientists at the Duke University School of Medicine have received two grants totaling $18 million to investigate how different cells in the brain and in the gut may foster the onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease. The grants from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative will fund two…

Amprion has announced the commercial rollout of SYNTap Biomarker Test, a laboratory test to accurately detect alpha-synuclein aggregates, a hallmark of various brain diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. Alpha-synuclein, a protein, can misfold and accumulate (aggregate) in toxic clumps called Lewy bodies, leading to the death of nerve…

Vanqua Bio has raised $85 million in funding to accelerate the development of its small molecule technology platform for treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Led by Omega Funds, the Series B financing will advance the research of Dimitri Krainc, MD, PhD, of Northwestern University, an…

Researchers developed “mini-brains” — midbrain-like organoids — that recapitulate for a first time two key Parkinson’s hallmarks in that organ: the formation of toxic protein clumps known as Lewy bodies and the loss of dopamine-producing neurons. A combination of two known Parkinson’s risk factors — a deficiency of the beta-glucocerebrosidase…

As one of my sister Bev’s caregivers and a former nurse, I try to educate family members and friends about Parkinson’s disease (PD) to increase awareness and understanding and advocate for my sister. Bev was diagnosed in 2017. She’s now 83 and has stage 3 PD. I am…

SLS-004, Seelos Therapeutics’ experimental epigenetic editing therapy for Parkinson’s disease, effectively reduced the production of alpha-synuclein — the protein that accumulates in toxic clumps in Parkinson’s — in the brains of healthy mice. Epigenetic modifications refer to the addition of chemical marks to DNA by a group of specialized…

The formation of toxic clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein, a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease, was not affected by reducing levels of tau, a protein that also forms aggregates in both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, a mouse study suggested. These results imply that the role of tau in…

A new model of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s development, addressing both where aggregates first appear and their spread through the nervous system, may explain the variety of early symptoms, asymmetry in motor symptoms, and variability of disease progression seen in patients, a study reported. The study,…

Aptinyx‘s Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating its investigational oral compound NYX-458 for the treatment of cognitive impairment and mild dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease is resuming patient screening after a temporary pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recruitment is underway at multiple locations in the United States.

Exercise can slow early cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease patients who have a variant of the APOE gene, called APOE4, a recent study has found. “Additional research is needed to confirm our findings, but these results would support the use…