2015/02/12
TV3 telethon funds Alzheimer's disease study by CIC bioGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE
- The project has secured 400,000 euros in funding from the telethon that the Catalan public TV channel organises every year, and which in 2013 raised money for neurodegenerative diseases.
- The project focuses on the interaction of two proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease, with the aim of developing new therapies.
(Bilbao/Donostia, February 2015).- Basque research centres CIC bioGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE are taking part in a scientific project that aims to find more therapies for Alzheimer's disease by studying the interaction of two proteins linked to this disorder. The project is led by Dr Gemma Arsequell, from the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia.
There are more than 24 diseases (including Alzheimer's) that are caused by an incorrect protein folding, which leads to aggregation and formation of amyloid deposits. The main component of amyloid plaques is amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta).
Transthyretin protein (TTR) is the molecule with the highest affinity for Abeta in cerebrospinal fluid. Prior research conducted by some of the participants in this project showed that when a TTR-stabilising compound was administered, Abeta deposits were reduced, thus improving cognitive functions in animals.
In this research framework, the study is based on the neuroprotective function observed in TTR and focuses on trying to find modulating drugs.
The project also aims to start up a screening project to identify the most effective compounds in the process, in order to create ways of preventing and treating the disease.
A multi-disciplinary consortium
A multi-disciplinary consortium has been created to conduct the research. It comprises several scientific bodies and will cover all the stages of the process, including drug discovery, in-vivo animal studies, medicinal chemistry, structural biology, and biochemical and cell-based tests.
Jordi Llop, chief researcher of the Radiochemistry and Nuclear Image group at CIC biomaGUNE, and Jesús Jiménez Barbero, Scientific Director of CIC bioGUNE, will be working on this project, which aims to help develop new therapies.
"At CIC biomaGUNE we will offer our expertise in drug radiolabelling and the establishment of pharmacokinetic features by using molecular imaging techniques. The information we obtain will be essential in order to clarify mechanistic aspects of the disease and develop new therapies," explains Jordi Llop.
According to Dr Gemma Arsequell, who is coordinating the project, with this research they hope to "gain new molecular, biochemical and physiological knowledge of the involvement of transthyretin protein in Alzheimer's disease".
"We hope to start up a new therapeutic strategy by finding new stabilisers that may be leaders in the development of new drugs against Alzheimer's disease", explains Arsequell.
The three-year project has secured 399,550 euros in funding and has officially started with a scientific conference held last Tuesday at CIC biomaGUNE, in which several researchers from each one of the five groups involved in the project have taken part.
"La Marató de TV3" telethon
The "Fundació Marató" foundation set up by TV3 in 1996 aims to foster and promote outstanding biomedical research, and to raise awareness of diseases through "La Marató de TV3" telethon.
In 2013 the programme focused on neurodegenerative diseases and it managed to raise 11 million euros. 187 projects were presented to secure funding, and they were studied by 96 international scientists, who selected 44 projects to be developed.