Name of Fellow

    Myöhänen Timo

    Institution

    Funder

    Academy of Finland

    Contact information of fellow

    Country

    Finland

    Title of project/programme

    The role of Prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) and its inhibition on ?-synuclein aggregation and Parkinson’s disease models

    Source of funding information

    Academy of Finland

    Total sum awarded (Euro)

    € 425,005

    Start date of award

    01/09/13

    Total duration of award in years

    5.0

    The project/programme is most relevant to:

    Parkinson's disease & PD-related disorders

    Keywords

    Parkinson's disease | alpha-synuclein | misfolding proteins | prolyl oligopeptidase

    Research Abstract

    Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease with motor problems, where the neurons of locomotor areas of brain are devastated by the unknown reason. Current drug therapies are only not curative, preventative nor do they delay disease progression. Although the ultimate cause of neurodegeneration in PD is not known, one key player seems to be misfolding and aggregation of aSyn on brain dopaminergic neurons. This leads to damaging and death of neurons, and eventually to clinical symptoms of PD. We have earlier shown that prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) enzyme inhibitors are able to block the aggregation and increase the clearance of aggregates after a short-term administration. Moreover, this increased the amount of dopamine in the brain. The aim of this project is to study the role of POP for aSyn aggregation and clearance by silencing the POP protein using different methods. In addition, the effects of POP and its inhibition on brain dopamine levels are studied.

Types: Fellowships
Member States: Finland
Diseases: Parkinson's disease & PD-related disorders
Years: 2016
Database Categories: N/A
Database Tags: N/A

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