Addressing the source of Parkinson's disease

There is a key need to generate new drug treatments for neurodegenerative diseases that stop disease progression rather than just mask symptoms. In this regard, our team has recently discovered that analogs of NAADP - a potent second messenger - are able to reverse cellular defects seen in cells isolated from patients with Parkinson’s disease. To understand whether this therapy has clinical potential, we need to optimize the properties of these NAADP analogs for use in vivo and assess the beneficial effects of newly generated lead compounds in assays of neuronal regeneration and viability.