• Gryphon Login
  • MyCourses
  • Alumni
  • UCLA Health
  • Contact Us
Prospective Students

Prospective Students

Prospective Students
  • Admissions
    Procedure & Timelines
    • Admissions Timeline
    • Admissions Procedure
    • Basis of Selection
    • COVID-19 Impacts on Admissions
    • Housing Information
    • Interview Process
    • Prerequisites
    General Information
    • Statement of Diversity
    • Mission Statement
    • Curriculum Resdesign
    • Honor Code
    • FAQs
    • Admissions Brochure
    • Admissions Timeline
    • Admission Procedure
    • Basis of Selection
    • Competencies
    • COVID-19 Impact on Admissions
    • DACA Applicants
    • DGSOM Mission Statement
    • Equity and Diversity Inclusion
    • FAQs
    • Honor Code
    • Housing Information
    • Interview Process
    • Virtual Events
  • Outreach & Pipeline Programs
    Summer Pre-Health and Postbaccaluareate Programs
    • UCLA SHPEP
    • UCLA PREP
    • UCLA RAP
    Outreach and Recruitment
    • Conferences and Events
    • Stay Connected!
    • Contact Us
    • Conferences & Outreach Events
    • Summer Pre-Health and Postbaccalaureate Programs
    • Contact Us
    • Stay Connected
  • Financial Aid & Scholarships
  • Degrees & Programs
  • Curriculum
  • Student Life
    Why Choose UCLA
    • Research
    • Clinical Work
    • Service Opportunities
    • Global Health Impact
    • Why You'll Love LA
    Campus Life
    • Student Organizations
    • Annual Events
    • Day in the Life
    • Around Campus
    • Photo Galleries
    • Medical and Research News
    • Medical Student Council
    • Geffy Guide
    • Search Campus and Health News
    • Service Opportunities
    • Global Health Impact
    • Why You'll Love LA
    • Photo Galleries
    • Day in the Life
    • Around Campus
    • Medical and Research News
    • Search Campus and Health News
  • How to Apply
  • Gryphon Login
  • MyCourses
  • Alumni
  • UCLA Health
  • Contact Us

Prospective Students

Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

  • Health News
  • A Day in the Life
  • Around Campus
  • Medical and Research News
  • Health News
  • A Day in the Life
  • Around Campus
  • Medical and Research News
  1. Home
  2. Prospective Students
  3. Student Life
  4. Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

Share this

Health News

Title

Balance and movement improved in animal model of Parkinson’s disease

Health News

Date
06/07/2017
Article

FINDINGS

Researchers at UCLA have developed a molecular compound that improves balance and coordination in mice with early stage Parkinson’s disease. Further, the drug, called CLR01, reduced the amount of a toxic protein in the brain that is thought to be one of the prime culprits in the development of the disorder.

BACKGROUND

Parkinson’s disease is a nervous system disorder that affects movement. It’s estimated that as many as 1 million Americans live with Parkinson’s, and that roughly 60,000 are diagnosed with it each year. There is no cure. The disease is chronic and progressive, and over time can worsen from tremors in a person’s hands and slow movements, to impaired balance and coordination and, ultimately, overall rigidity of the body, including difficulty swallowing and speaking.

While the cause is not known, growing evidence points to the protein alpha-synuclein. The protein binds together in “clumps,” called aggregates, becoming toxic and killing brain neurons that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter needed to send signals among neurons involved in controlling movements.

METHOD

Earlier research by Gal Bitan, an associate professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and colleagues led to the development of CLR01, which is known as a molecular tweezer — a complex compound capable of disrupting the formation of toxic protein clumps. Shaped like the letter “C,” CLR01 wraps around chains of lysine, a basic amino acid that is a constituent of most proteins. In the previous work in zebrafish, the scientists showed that the tweezer could decrease the clumping of alpha-synuclein and prevent its negative effects without detectable toxicity or side effects to normal, functioning cells in the brain.

In this study in mice, the UCLA researchers took a more refined approach. It turns out there are two toxic forms of alpha-synuclein. One is the proteins that clump together, forming aggregates. The second is a soluble form that is difficult to detect because it is not very stable. This is the more toxic form and is thought to be the culprit affecting the neurons. In the new study, the researchers used a treatment of CLR01 that did not affect the aggregated form of alpha-synuclein; instead, it only reduced the soluble form. This proved to be sufficient to help improve movements in mice. These findings are important because they suggest that researchers may not need to focus on the aggregates if the toxic soluble form of alpha-synuclein can be reduced or destroyed.

IMPACT

CLR01 previously showed a strong therapeutic effect in a zebrafish model of Parkinson’s. This study is the first to demonstrate CLR01’s effectiveness in a mammal, one of the last important steps before human clinical trials.

The researchers are now working on optimizing the blood-brain barrier penetration of CLR01 and measuring all the pharmacological features necessary for applying to the Food and Drug Administration to begin the first human, clinical trials.

AUTHORS

Bitan and Dr. Marie-Françoise Chesselet, the Charles H. Markham professor of neurology at UCLA, are the senior authors of the study. Franziska Richter, assistant professor at the University of Leipzig in Germany, is the first author.

JOURNAL

The paper was published in the online edition of the journal Neurotherapeutics.

FUNDING

This work was supported by multiple funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, RJG Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Team Parkinson/Parkinson Alliance, the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, and gifts to the Center for the Study of Parkinson’s Disease at UCLA.

Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare
Top 10 U.S. Medical Schools
  • Giving
  • Publications
  • Newsroom
  • Weekly Digest
  • Directory
  • Contact Us
  • Diversity
  • Emergency
  • Maps & Directions
  • UC Regents
  • Abuse Free
  • Volunteer
  • Biomed Library
  • Disability Resources
  • UCLA Health
  • Smoke-Free
  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Use
Top 10 U.S. Medical Schools
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare