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Today – 27th February, 2019 – the long-awaited results of the Phase II GDNF clinical trial were published. GDNF (or glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) is a protein that our bodies naturally produce to nurture and support cells. Extensive preclinical research suggested that this protein was particularly supportive of dopamine neurons – a group of cells in the brain that are affected by Parkinson’s. The results of the Phase II clinical trial suggest that the treatment was having an effect in the brain (based on imaging data), but the clinic-based methods of assessment indicated no significant effect between the treatment and placebo groups. In today’s post we will look at what GDNF is, review the previous research on the protein, discuss the results of the latest study, and look at what happens next. And be warned this is going to be a long post!
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Boulder, Colorado. Source: Rps
It all began way back in 1991.
George H. W. Bush was half way into his presidency, a rock band called Nirvana released their second album (‘Nevermind’), Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls rolled over the LA Lakers to win the NBA championship, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘Terminator 2’ was the top grossing movie of the year.
Source: Stmed
But in the city of Boulder (Colorado), a discovery was being made that would change Parkinson’s research forever.
In 1991, Dr Leu-Fen Lin and Dr Frank Collins – both research scientists at a small biotech company called Synergen, isolated a protein that they called glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor, or GDNF.
And in 1993, they shared their discovery with the world in this publication:
Title: GDNF: a glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor for midbrain dopaminergic neurons.
Authors: Lin LF, Doherty DH, Lile JD, Bektesh S, Collins F.
Journal: Science, 1993 May 21;260(5111):1130-2.
PMID: 8493557
For the uninitiated among you, when future historians write the full history of Parkinson’s, there will be no greater saga than GDNF.
In fact, in the full history of medicine, there are few experimental treatments that people get more excited, divided, impassioned and evangelical than GDNF.
This ‘wonder drug’ has been on a rollercoaster ride of a journey.
What exactly is GDNF?
The Science of Parkinson's 