A recent generous donation from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) will help develop a novel piece of technology which could accelerate the research of new treatment options for the condition.
Specifically, MJFF has given over 1 million dollars to Inflazome’s development of a position emission tomography (PET) tracer.
The Technology
In essence, the tracer is a brain-imaging probe which senses the presence of NLRP3 inflammasome. NLRP3 inflammasome is a multiprotein oligomer that activates inflammatory responses in the body. Ultimately, this technology could help researchers measure brain inflammation in Parkinson’s disease patients.
The best part is that this technology works quickly, it’s accurate, and it’s non-invasive.
How it Works
NLRP3 inflammasome is known to drive inflammation. Previous research has shown that this multiprotein is activated by alpha-synuclein. Alpha-synuclein causes some of the hallmark effects of Parkinson’s disease. Ergo, the ability to study NLRP3 more closely, should help researchers gain a better understanding of the condition as a whole and what may be able to treat it. In fact, it’s already doing so.
Inflazome has already uncovered that MCC950 blocks NLRP3 inflammasome and alpha-synuclein clumping. As a result, MCC950 is able to ease motor deficits and prevent the loss of nerve cells. This was shown in a mouse model.
Potential Impact
Hopefully, this new technology will provide insight into the onset of Parkinson’s disease, how it progresses, and which potential treatments are worth investigating further.
Additionally, it could improve the development and success of clinical trials for the disease. Not only could it help evaluate specific dose amounts of potential therapies, it could assist in the evaluation of which patients at which disease stage should enroll in which trial.
Of course, the development of this technology would not be possible without funds and Inflazome has expressed their gratitude to MJFF and their contribution to this project.
You can read more about this new technology here.
