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Researchers at the University of Toronto have made a significant breakthrough in the quest for effective treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Their findings offer a promising new approach to better control the preclinical generation of key neurons depleted in this debilitating condition, which currently lacks a cure and effective treatments.
In a recent study published in the journal Development, the team led by Stephane Angers, director of the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, detailed their innovative method. By utilizing synthetic antibodies to selectively activate a receptor in a molecular signaling pathway, the researchers successfully directed stem cells in the midbrain to develop into dopaminergic neurons, which are crucial for producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential for brain function.
“Efforts to generate dopaminergic neurons from stem cells have faced challenges in targeting specific receptors and areas of the brain,” explained Angers, who is also a professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “Our approach, which involves targeting the Wnt signaling pathway with synthetic antibodies, represents a novel method for achieving this goal.”
Parkinson’s disease, the second-most common neurological disorder globally, affects over 100,000 Canadians, with symptoms including movement impairment, pain, and mental health issues. Most previous attempts to activate the Wnt signaling pathway relied on a GSK3 enzyme inhibitor, which can lead to unintended effects and activation of off-target cells.
“Our method not only efficiently stimulates stem cell differentiation into neural cells but also produces neurons closely resembling natural dopaminergic neurons,” noted Andy Yang, first author of the study and a PhD student at the Donnelly Centre.
Furthermore, implanting the artificially-produced neurons into a rodent model with Parkinson’s disease resulted in improved locomotive impairment, demonstrating the potential therapeutic efficacy of this approach.
“Our next step is to further evaluate the effectiveness of our method compared to existing approaches in animal models before moving on to clinical trials,” added Yang.
The research was supported by the University of Toronto Medicine by Design program and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The discovery represents a significant advancement in Parkinson’s disease research and brings hope for the development of more effective treatments in the future.
For more information, refer to the original article in Development or visit the University of Toronto’s website.
