Disease Focus: Parkinson's Disease
Phase 1/2a Dose Escalation Study of ANPD001 in Sporadic Parkinson Disease
A Phase 1b Safety Study for MRI guided delivery of AAV2-GDNF for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disease that is thought to be the outcome of the gradual breakdown of dopaminergic neurons in the brain, which are a type of cell that produces a chemical in ones’ brain known as dopamine. This decrease in the brain dopamine content can result in symptoms such as uncontrollable shaking of […]
Lewy body dementia, 𝛼-synuclein, and cell-specific mechanisms of neurodegeneration
Research Objective We will generate insights about mechanisms by which 𝛼-synuclein leads to neurodegeneration of the forebrain and substantia nigra, regions affected in Lewy body dementias and Parkinson disease. Impact If the proposed studies are successfully achieved, they will impact our understanding of Lewy body dementias specifically and 𝛼-synucleinopathies and neurodegeneration more broadly. Major Proposed […]
Autologous therapy for Parkinson’s disease: single cell RNAseq for in depth characterization of transplanted cells
Drug Development of Inhibitors of Inflammation Using Human iPSC-Derived Microglia (hiMG)
Research Objective We will screen for modifiers of the response to misfolded αSyn and Aβ, and their cognate antibodies. Development of drugs to combat this inflammation is important in neurodegenerative diseases. Impact Inhibiting the immune response to minimize NLRP3 inflammasome activation may prevent the neurotoxic effect of activated microglia, and attenuate disease progression in neurodegenerative […]
A tool for rapid development of clinical-grade protocols for dopaminergic neuronal differentiation of Parkinson’s Disease patient-derived iPSCs
Research Objective Develop a tool that facilitates rapid, cost effective development of optimized GMP-grade hPSC differentiation into functional DA neurons and apply this device to a cohort of PD patient-derived iPSCs. Impact Creating GMP-grade, functionally consistent phenotypes for DA neurons from each patient will significantly increase the likelihood of stem cell-derived DA neuron-based therapy for […]
CRISPR/dCas9 mutant targeting SNCA promoter for downregulation of alpha-synuclein expression as a novel therapeutic approach for Parkinson’s disease
Research Objective Discovery of a novel therapeutic candidate for Parkinson’s disease which modifies gene expression using human stem cell-derived neurons to halt the neurodegenerative disease process. Impact Stopping the neurodegenerative process of Parkinson’s disease is a critical unmet medical need. Our approach is based on novel gene engineering technology that modifies expression of key target […]
Autologous cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease using iPSC-derived DA neurons
Research Objective Autologous human dopaminergic neurons derived from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells Impact Parkinson's disease Major Proposed Activities Characterize differentiation from all 10 patient cell lines Characterize functionality of patient neurons matured in vitro Immunogenicity assessment Cryopreservation feasibility testing Investigate dose response in vivo Detect dopamine release in vivo Thousands of Californians suffer from […]
A new phenotypic screening platform that identifies biologically-relevant targets and lead compounds for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease
Research Objective Demonstrate that our HitFinder™ library can be screened for phenotypic changes in A53T-IPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons and use a secondary handle to identify the targets responsible. Impact This technology combines phenotypic screening and target-ID eliminating the need to bias assays and/or screening libraries permitting application directly in iPSC-derived cells. Major Proposed Activities Prepare screening […]
Development of Autologous Cell Replacement Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease: Path to Personalized Treatment
Translational Candidate autologous iPSC-derived dopaminergic progenitor cells Area of Impact Parkinson's Disease Mechanism of Action Autologous iPSC-derived dopaminergic progenitor cells represent a promising strategy to replace the nigrostriatal cells which are lost in Parkinson's Disease (PD). While approaches using fetal tissue / allogeneic stem cells show great promise, they are not sufficiently personalized to provide […]