A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided approach known as the ClearPoint Navigation System is being used in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial to enable the precise surgical delivery of ANPD001, an investigational stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease, its developer, Aspen Neuroscience, announced. The open-label ASPIRO trial…

A new method for turning specific human stem cells, called pluripotent stem cells, into neurons that can produce dopamine — the signaling molecule, essential for controlling movement, that is missing in patients with Parkinson’s disease — has now been developed by researchers in the U.S. “Scientists have been trying…

During Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Aspen Neuroscience will launch a patient screening study to potentially advance ANPD001, its experimental, personalized neuron replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease, into clinical trials. Considered to be the first of its kind, the Trial-Ready Cohort Study will involve several screening sites in the U.S.

A four-ingredient, small-molecule cocktail was seen to protect stem cells from the stresses of lab work better than existing agents, helping to preserve their normal structure and function, researchers reported. This cocktail may overcome the “daunting challenge” of keeping pluripotent stem cells viable, so to be more useful in research into stem…

Scientists have designed a so-called “organ-on-a-chip” device that can grow dopaminergic neurons — the brain cells most affected in people with Parkinson’s disease — in a 3D environment where they are more like real neurons in the brain, a study shows.

A direct causal link was found between two major underlying features of Parkinson’s disease — mitochondrial defects and lysosomal malfunction — in dopamine producing neurons that lacked the PARK2 gene, which is mutated in some cases of early-onset disease, a study discovered. …

The University at Buffalo has received a $2.2 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to develop a new method for diagnosing Parkinson’s disease before the onset of clinical symptoms, according to a university press release. Called “Molecular Segregation of Parkinson’s Disease…

Bayer has announced an agreement to acquire the cell therapy company BlueRock Therapeutics, and plans to open a clinical trial of a potential Parkinson’s stem cell-based treatment this year. BlueRock, which will remain an independent entity under the plan, has a portfolio that focuses on engineered stem cell…

Precursors of dopamine-producing cells were implanted into the brain of a Parkinson’s patient for the first time. The patient in Japan is the first of seven to receive this experimental therapy. The approach uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are developed by reprogramming cells collected from the skin…

Targeting specific calcium channels in dopamine-producing neurons may be a therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease, according to research involving cells derived from Parkinson’s patients. The study, “T-type calcium channels determine the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons to mitochondrial stress in familial Parkinson’s disease,” was published in Stem Cell…