Tohoku University and Protosera Inc. Successfully Narrowed Down Candidate Molecules for Inhibitory Therapy of Parkinson’s Disease Progression

Dr. Takafumi Hasegawa, Associate Professor of Department of Neurology at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and USHIO’s (Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Koji Naito) consolidated subsidiary Protosera　Inc. (Head Office: Osaka, President and CEO: Dr. Kenji Tanaka) jointly searched for candidate molecules for inhibitory therapy of Parkinson’s disease progression and applied for patents for the five molecules discovered in the search effective April 9, 2019.

Identification of new fibrillar α-synuclein* receptor candidate proteins that are present in mammalian brain cells is expected to clarify a part of the fibrillar α-synuclein intercellular transmission mechanism and lead to the development of inhibitors of fibrillar α-synuclein deposition in the brain.

* Fibrillar α-synuclein
α-synuclein is a protein consisting of 140 amino acids which is abundantly present in nerve cells but whose functions are unknown. Native α-synuclein is a soluble protein that does not have a specific structure, and its structure is subject to change due to various stresses and genetic mutations and their aggregation leads to the formation of insoluble proteins (fibrillar α-synuclein). Fibrillar α-synuclein aggregates are deposited in the brain nerve cells and peripheral nerve cells of Parkinson’s disease patients and these deposits are called Lewy bodies after the name of the discoverer. Fibrillar α-synuclein has cell toxicity and is known to play a major role in causing Parkinson’s disease and its progression.

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