Tag: biomarker

The seeds of change

~ Simon ~ 6 Comments

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The diagnostic process for Parkinson’s has been problematic for a long time. Individuals presenting the symptoms often need several clinical evaluations, and confirmation using a brain imaging technique.

A biological test for the condition has been lacking and would help tremendously.

Recently, however, research (supported by the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research) has indicated that this could be about to change.

In today’s post, we will explore recently published research highlighting a new potential biomarker test for Parkinson’s.

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On the 27th June, 1997, a research report was published in the prestigious scientific journal ‘Science’ that would change the world of Parkinson’s forever.

And I am not exaggerating or overstating here. I know I can sometimes be a little over the top, but the research report in question very much changed the world of Parkinson’s research.

The discovery that tiny variations in a region of DNA that scientists refer to as “alpha synuclein” could increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s gave researchers their first real insights into some of the biology that could potentially be underlying the condition (Click here to read a previous SoPD post on this discovery):

Science

Title: Mutation in the alpha-synuclein gene identified in families with Parkinson’s disease.
Authors: Polymeropoulos MH, Lavedan C, Leroy E, Ide SE, Dehejia A, Dutra A, Pike B, Root H, Rubenstein J, Boyer R, Stenroos ES, Chandrasekharappa S, Athanassiadou A, Papapetropoulos T, Johnson WG, Lazzarini AM, Duvoisin RC, Di Iorio G, Golbe LI, Nussbaum RL.
Journal: Science. 1997 Jun 27;276(5321):2045-7.
PMID: 9197268

And then – remarkably just two months later – the results of another study were published in the journal ‘Nature’, and these would further cemented alpha synuclein’s place in Parkinson’s research.

In this second research paper, the investigators showed that alpha synuclein was present in “Lewy bodies” – densely packed spheres of protein inside of cells that are one of the characteristic features of the Parkinsonian brain:

Title: Alpha-synuclein in Lewy bodies.
Authors: Spillantini MG, Schmidt ML, Lee VM, Trojanowski JQ, Jakes R, Goedert M.
Journal: Nature. 1997 Aug 28;388(6645):839-40.
PMID: 9278044

And very suddenly, this poor little protein became public ‘enemy number one’ for the Parkinson’s research community and everyone started digging into the biology associated with it with the hope of finding new avenues for therapeutic intervention and biomarkers for Parkinson’s.

What exactly is alpha synuclein?

Continue reading “The seeds of change” →

On your MARCKS. Get set. Go

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

 

An important aspect of developing better remedies for Parkinson’s involves determining when and where the condition starts in the brain. What is the underlying mechanism that kicks things off and can it be therapeutically targetted?

Recently, researchers from Japan have suggested that a protein called Myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (or simply MARCKS) may be a potentially important player in the very early stages of Parkinson’s (and other neurodegenerative conditions).

Specifically, they have found that MARCKS is present before many of the other pathological hallmarks of Parkinson’s (such as Lewy bodies) even appear. But what does this mean? And what can we do with this information?

In today’s post, we will look at what MARCKS is, what new research suggests, and how the research community are attempting to target this protein.

 

Where does it all begin? Source: Cafi

One of the most interesting people I met during my time doing Parkinson’s assessment clinics was an ex-fire forensic investigator.

We would generally start each PD assessment session with a “brief history” of life and employment – it is a nice ice breaker to the appointment, helped to relax the individual by focusing on a familiar topic, and it could provide an indication of potential issues to consider in the context of Parkinson’s – such as job related stress or exposure to other potential risk factors (eg. pesticides, etc).

Source: Assessment

But so fascinated was I with the past emplyoment of the ex-fire forensic investigator gentleman that the “brief history” was anything but brief.

We had a long conversation.

One aspect of fire forensics that particularly fascinated me was the way he could walk into a recently burned down property, and he could “read the story backwards” to identify the root cause of the fire.

He could start anywhere on a burnt out property and find his way back to the source (and also determine if the fire was accidental or deliberate).

Where did it all start? Source: Morestina

I marvelled at this idea.

And I can remember wondering “why can’t we do that with Parkinson’s?”

Well, recently some Japanese researchers have had a crack at “reading the story backwards” and they found something rather interesting.

What did they find?

Continue reading “On your MARCKS. Get set. Go” →

On the hunt for biomarkers

~ Simon ~ 4 Comments

 

The monitoring and assessment of the symptoms/features of Parkinson’s is a big deal in the research community at the moment.

There is currently a mad hunt for ‘biomarkers’ – reliably measurable physical characteristics – that could help not only with the assessment of individuals living with the condition, but could also aid in the running of clinical trials by providing additional measures of efficacy/benefit.

Recently an interesting perspective was written by some of the leading researchers in this field.

In today’s post, we review what the perspective outlined, and we will discuss other aspects of the biomarker research that need to be considered by the wider Parkinson’s community.

 

Perspective. Source: Huffingtonpost

Scientific journals will often invite the research leaders in a particular field of investigation to write a brief journal article that deals with unique view of a common problem.

Articles of this nature are called ‘Perspectives‘.

And recently a very interesting perspective was published in the journal Science on the topic of biomarkers for Parkinson’s.

Title: Finding useful biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Chen-Plotkin AS, Albin R,….a lot of additional authors…, Zhang J
Journal: Science Translational Medicine, 15 Aug 2018, 10 (454), eaam6003.
PMID: N/A

This perspective included a rather long list of a ‘who’s-who’ of Parkinson’s researchers – both academic and industry. Even members of the Michael J Fox Foundation and Verily/Google Life Sciences were included.

The perspective sought to highlight ‘the “ecosystem” of shared biofluid sample biorepositories and data sets will focus biomarker efforts in Parkinson’s‘. It is a very enlightening read, one that begs for reader responses. But sadly the article is behind a ‘pay wall’, and so many in the Parkinson’s community won’t be able to provide any thoughts or feedback.

Shame.

But not to worry, we can discuss the matter here. And the best place to start that discussion is with the obvious first question:

What is a biomarker?

A biomarker is an objectively measurable physical characteristic associated with a condition. It is a biological component of a condition that correlates with that condition in some way. For example, the DaTscan brain imaging technique provides a ‘biomarker’ for Parkinson’s by measuring the amount of dopamine re-absorption in the brain. By labelling the dopamine neurons with a radioactive marker, we can quantify the levels of dopamine activity in a person.

An example of a DaTscan. Source: Cedars-sinai 

What did the perspective say about biomarkers for Parkinson’s?

Continue reading “On the hunt for biomarkers” →