Tag: protein

Yo DJ, stop mis-splicing

~ Simon ~ 4 Comments

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RNA – the usable copy of a section of DNA – has regions called introns that need to be removed before the RNA can be used for the production of protein. The process of removing introns is called splicing.

Recently researchers have noticed that a genetic mutation in a Parkinson’s-associated gene – called DJ-1 – affects the splicing of the associated RNA and this has serious consequences on the activity of the DJ-1 protein.

Interestingly, they were able to pharmacologically rescue the effect, and noticed that DJ-1 might not be the only Parkinson’s-associated gene affected by this splicing error.

In today’s post, we will discuss what splicing is, review the new research, and discuss the wider implications for the Parkinson’s community.

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Source: Wikibooks

Today’s post starts off with a definition:

Splice – /splʌɪs/; verb;
Meaning: “to combine, interweave”.
Origin: 16th century: probably from Middle Dutchsplissen,
Similar:  braid, plait, entwine, intertwine, interlace, knit
Additional/alternative meanings:
1.  (From the arts) When two pieces of recorded music – with a similar key and tempo – are combined:

2.  (From biology) The process that removes the intervening, non-coding sequences of genes (introns) from pre-mRNA and joins the protein-coding sequences (exons) together in order to enable translation of mRNA into a protein:

Ok, so the first alternative definition about music I understood and the video was helpful, but can you explain the second definition in more detail please?

Continue reading “Yo DJ, stop mis-splicing” →

Is there something in the air?

~ Simon ~ 2 Comments

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Air pollution is an international problem in the post-industrial world. Poor air quality has been associated with an increasing number of medical conditions.

For a long time there has been indications that neurodegenerative conditions – such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – could also be associated with air pollution.

Recently, several research reports have been published providing compelling evidence further supporting the association and raising new questions. 

In today’s post, we will review some of that research and discuss what could be done next (SPOILER ALERT: the solution involves needing cleaner air).

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Vast. Source: Unequal

I have been extremely fortunate in my life to have travelled to a few of the major cities of the world, but none have had as much impact on me upon arrival as Mexico city.

The pilot had announced over the loud speaker that we were approaching the outskirts of the city, and I looked out of my window to catch a first glimpse of the central American metapolis. Block after block of dwellings passed beneath us, and I thought “great, we’ll be landing soon“.

Mexico City: Really vast. Source: lsecities

Three minutes later, block after block of dwellings were still passing beneath us.

It was the first really vast city that I had ever visited.

Covering approximately 1,500 square kilometers (580 sq miles) of an old volcanic crater, the city is huge. By comparison, New York city covers only 1/2 the area (approximately 780 square kilometers or 300 sq miles – Source).

Home to over 8 million people, Mexico city was an amazing place to explore.

Palacio de Bellas Artes. Source: Turkishairlines

The art, the culture, the history, and the food – lots to see and experience!

Bosque de Chapultepec. Source: Jetsetter

But like all big cities, Mexico city has its share of problems. In addtion to sinking more than 10 metres over the past century (Click here to read more about this), Mexico City also has a terrible air population problem.

And this latter issue has recently been implicated in some Parkinson’s related research.

What do you mean?

Continue reading “Is there something in the air?” →

The hunt for a vaccine

~ Simon ~ 7 Comments

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This week, the biotech firm AFFiRiS published the long awaited results of their Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating a vaccine for Parkinson’s. The vaccine – called PD01A – targets a protein that clumps/aggregates together in certain neurons in the brains of people with Parkinson’s.

The multi-year study suggests that the treatment is safe and tolerated. In addition, it causes the immune system to generate antibodies that target the aggregated form of alpha synuclein.

And while it must be remembered that this is a small, open-label study, there are some intriguing statements made in the report.

In today’s post, we will discuss what PD01A is, review the results of the clinical study, and explore what happens next.

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Source: NHI

As the world awaits the development of a vaccine that will combat COVID-19, the neurodegenerative research community has quietly been watching a biotech company in Austria that has been developing a vaccine of a different sort: A vaccine for Parkinson’s.

The company is called AFFiRiS:

Source: Twitter

And this week they published the results of their Phase 1 safety/tolerability clinical trial of their immunotherapy treatment (PD01A) that they are testing in people with recently diagnosed Parkinson’s.

What is immunotherapy?

Continue reading “The hunt for a vaccine” →

Guten tag! MODAG

~ Simon ~ 12 Comments

 

Last week the German biotech firm MODAG announced that they had secure €12M in series A funding from various venture capital investors.

The company is going to use those funds to clinically develop their lead compound – Anle138b – in the neurodegenerative condition, Multiple Systems Atrophy (or MSA). 

In today’s post, we will discuss how Anle138b works, what Multiple Systems Atrophy is, and how this news could be good for the Parkinson’s community.

 

Stealth mode. Source: Hackernoon

Last week a small biotech firm in Germany came out of ‘stealth mode’.

What is stealth mode?

According to wikipedia, “in business, stealth mode is a company’s temporary state of secretiveness, usually undertaken to avoid alerting competitors to a pending product launch or other business initiative”.

After years of developing a novel drug, the German company emerged from stealth mode with €12M in series A funding, which will be used to clinically test their new treatment.

The company’s name is MODAG.

And what is MODAG planning to do now they are out of “stealth mode”?

They are planning to clinically test their lead compound which is called Anle138b.

The initial Phase I safety test will be conducted in healthy individuals, but then they will turn their attention to individuals with multiple systems atrophy.

What is Multiple System Atrophy?

Continue reading “Guten tag! MODAG” →

Distinctly human?

~ Simon ~ 9 Comments

 

It is often said that Parkinson’s is a ‘distinctly human’ condition. Researchers will write in their reports that other animals do not naturally develop the features of the condition, even at late stages of life.

But how true is this statement?

Recently, some research has been published which brings into question this idea.

In today’s post, we will review these new findings and discuss how they may provide us with a means of testing both novel disease modifying therapies AND our very notion of what Parkinson’s means.

 

Checking his Tinder account? Source: LSE

Deep philosphical question: What makes humans unique?

Seriously, what differentiates us from other members of the animal kingdom?

Some researchers suggest that our tendency to wear clothes is a uniquely human trait.

The clothes we wear make us distinct. Source: Si-ta

But this is certainly not specific to us. While humans dress up to ‘stand out’ in a crowd, there are many species of animals that dress up to hide themselves from both predator and prey.

A good example of this is the ‘decorator crab’ (Naxia tumida; common name Little seaweed crab). These creatures spend a great deal of time dressing up, by sticking stuff (think plants and even some sedentary animals) to their exoskeleton in order to better blend into their environment. Here is a good example:

Many different kinds of insects also dress themselves up, such as Chrysopidae larva:

Dressed for success. Source: Bogleech

In fact, for most of the examples that people propose for “human unique” traits (for example, syntax, art, empathy), mother nature provides many counters (Humpback whales, bower birds, chickens – respectively).

So why is it that we think Parkinson’s is any different?

Wait a minute. Are there other animals that get Parkinson’s?

Continue reading “Distinctly human?” →

DBS 3.0: Magnetise me?

~ Simon ~ 5 Comments

 

Today’s post discusses some interesting new research that could potentially have ‘blue sky’ implications for the treatment of Parkinson’s (‘blue sky‘ meaning somewhere in the longer-term framework).  

The research deals with the amazing activity of a newly discovered protein, isolated from tiny little fish. The protein responds to magnetic fields. And with a lot more work, the researchers behind this discovery think that this protein could be useful in the future for the treatment of Parkinson’s.

In today’s post, we will have a look at this new protein, review the research report, and explore how this novel discovery could possibly be used for treating Parkinson’s.

 

Source: Flickr

The two fish in the image above are called Kryptopterus bicirrhis (or more commonly “glass catfish”).

These wondrous little creatures are typically found in the river waters of Thailand and Indonesia, they grow to a final length of approximately 8-12 cm (4-5 inches), and they live for 6-8 years.

But immediately you notice their most striking feature: the semi-transparent-ness of their bodies:

Why am I starting this post by talking about these curious little fish?

Some researchers in Baltimore (Maryland) recently made an amazing discovery related to them.

Which was?

Continue reading “DBS 3.0: Magnetise me?” →

Wanted: EEF2K inhibitors

~ Simon ~ 5 Comments

Nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (or NRF2) is a protein in each of your cells that plays a major role in regulating resistance to stress. As a result of this function, NRF2 is also the target of a lot of research focused on neuroprotection.

A group of researchers from the University of British Columbia have recently published interesting findings that point towards to a biological pathway that could help us to better harness the beneficial effects of NRF2 in Parkinson’s.

In today’s post, we will discuss what NRF2 is, what the new research suggests, and how we could potentially make use of this new information.

GettyImages-548553969-56a134395f9b58b7d0bd00df

Rusting iron. Source: Thoughtco

In his book ‘A Red Herring Without Mustard‘, author Alan Bradley wrote:

“Oxidation nibbles more slowly – more delicately, like a tortoise – at the world around us, without a flame, we call it rust and we sometimes scarcely notice as it goes about its business consuming everything from hairpins to whole civilizations”

And he was right on the money.

Oxidation is the loss of electrons from a molecule, which in turn destabilises that particular molecule. It is a process that is going on all around us – even within us.

Iron rusting is the example that is usually used to explain oxidation. Rust is the oxidation of iron – in the presence of oxygen and water, iron molecules will lose electrons over time. And given enough time, this results in the complete break down of objects made of iron.

The combustion process of fire is another example, albeit a very rapid form of oxidation.

Oxidation is one half of a process called Redox – the other half being reduction (which involves the gaining of electrons).

The redox process. Source: Academic

Here is a video that explains the redox process:

Now it is important to understand, that oxidation also occurs in biology.

Molecules in your body go through the same process of losing electrons and becoming unstable. This chemical reaction leads to the production of what we call free radicals, which can then go on to damage cells.

What is a free radical?

Continue reading “Wanted: EEF2K inhibitors” →

Prothena: Phase I results published

~ Simon ~ 22 Comments

This week, biotech firm Prothena published the results of their Phase I safety and tolerance clinical trial of their immunotherapy treatment called PRX002 (also known as RG7935).

Immunotherapy is a method of artificially boosting the body’s immune system to better fight a particular disease. 

PRX002 is a treatment that targets a toxic form of a protein called alpha synuclein – which is believed by many to be one of the main villains in Parkinson’s. 

In today’s post, we will discuss what immunotherapy is, review the results of the clinical trial, and consider what immunotherapy could mean for the Parkinson’s community.

Source: uib

I have previously mentioned on this website that any ‘cure for Parkinson’s’ is going to require three components:

  1. A disease halting mechanism
  2. A neuroprotective agent
  3. Some form of cell replacement therapy

This week we got some interesting clinical news regarding the one of these components: A disease halting mechanism.

The Phase I results of a clinical trial being conducted by a company called Prothena suggest that a new immunotherapy approach in people with Parkinson’s is both safe and well tolerated over long periods of time.

The good folks at Prothena Therapeutics. Source: Prothena

What is immunotherapy?

Continue reading “Prothena: Phase I results published” →

The Mannitol results

~ Simon ~ 30 Comments

Last week the first results of an ambitious project are being shared with the Parkinson’s community.

Clinicrowd is a “crowd sourcing platform exploring disease treatments that Pharma companies have no interest to investigate or promote”. Their initial focus was Parkinson’s (though they now have additional projects for other medical conditions), and their first experimental treatment for Parkinson’s was the sweetener ‘mannitol’.

The results provide some interesting insights into the properties of mannitol and into crowd sourced projects.

In today’s post, we will discuss what mannitol is, why it is interesting, outline the Clinicrowd project, and review the results of the mannitol study.

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Mannitol. Source: Qualifirst

Without a shadow of doubt, one of the most popular topics searched for on this website is ‘mannitol’.

In 2017, the second most visited page on the site (behind only the main/home page) was a post called “Update – Mannitol and Parkinson’s“. And as if to put an exclamation point on the matter, the fourth most visited page was “Manna from heaven? Mannitol and Parkinson’s”

Understand though, that both of these posts were actually written in 2016!

Throughout 2017-18, not a week has gone by without someone contacting me to ask about mannitol and the ‘CliniCrowd‘ project.

Thus, it brings me great pleasure to sit down tonight and write this post.

What is mannitol?

Continue reading “The Mannitol results” →

I’ll have the fish please

~ Simon ~ 16 Comments

We have previously discussed the importance of the right foods for people with Parkinson’s on this blog – Click here for a good example.

Recently, new data from researchers in Sweden points towards the benefits of a specific component of fish in particular.

It is a protein called β-parvalbumin, which has some very interesting properties.

In today’s post, we discuss what beta-parvalbumin is, review the new research findings, and consider how this new information could be applied to Parkinson’s.

A very old jaw bone. Source: Phys

In 2003, researchers found 34 bone fragments belonging to a single individual in a cave near Tianyuan, close to Beijing (China).

But it was not the beginning of a potential murder investigation.

No, no.

This was the start of something far more interesting.

Naming the individual “Tianyuan man”, the researchers have subsequently found that “many present-day Asians and Native Americans” are genetically related to this individual. His bones represented one of the oldest set of modern human remains ever found in the eastern Eurasia region.

Tianyuan caves. Source: Sciencemag

But beyond the enormous family tree, when researchers further explored specific details about his jaw bone (or lower mandible as it is called) they found something else that was very interesting about Tianyuan man:


Title: Stable isotope dietary analysis of the Tianyuan 1 early modern human.
Authors: Hu Y, Shang H, Tong H, Nehlich O, Liu W, Zhao C, Yu J, Wang C, Trinkaus E, Richards MP.
Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jul 7;106(27):10971-4.
PMID: 19581579                     (This research article is OPEN ACCESS if you would like to read it)

In this study, the investigators analysed the carbon and nitrogen isotopes found within bone collagen samples taken from the jaw bone of Tianyuan man. In humans, the carbon and nitrogen isotope values indicate the sources of dietary protein over many years of life.

The researchers found that a substantial portion of Tianyuan man’s diet 40,000 years ago came from freshwater fish.

Interesting preamble, but what does this have to do with Parkinson’s?

Continue reading “I’ll have the fish please” →