New research led by scientists at The Center for Networked Biomedical Research on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED) and CSIC-UAM has validated inhibition of protein phosphodiesterase 7 (PDE7) as a future therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease, confirming its beneficial effects in cellular and animal models of this disorder.
In fact, the group, which had previously showed in 2011 that pharmacological inhibition of this protein had a potent neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effect, has just published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine its latest study on this line, which shows that PDE7 inhibition also promotes the formation of new dopaminergic neurons.
The results obtained both in vitro and in animal models of Parkinson Disease indicate that this inhibition may regulate endogenous neurogenesis process, thus promoting the formation of new dopaminergic neurons, and contributing to the neurological tissue repair affected as a result of the development of the disease.
Thus, it is demonstrated that inhibition of PDE7 not only has a potent neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effect, but it may also be an effective method to replace the loss of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's patients.
The study was led by Jose Angel Morales García (CIBERNED), under supervision of Professor Ana Pérez Castillo at The Institute of Biomedical Research "Alberto Sols" (CSIC-UAM) and CIBERNED. Other collaborators were Ana Martínez Gil (CSIC) and Angel Santos Montes (UCM).