Summary: Researchers have identified a new compound, BIO-2007817, that can activate parkin protein in brain cells. Parkin tags the damaged mitochondria in the cells and thus promotes their recycling. Hence, this particular molecule promises to be effective for the early stages of Parkinson’s, helping manage or prevent its progress.
Researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, identified a molecule that may help manage or reverse early onset Parkinson’s. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Communications.
These findings are exciting, considering that there is no drug that can reverse the condition or even significantly slow its progress. Most medications used these days can only help manage Parkinson’s symptoms and provide relief. This breakthrough could be promising for patients who are also managing chronic pain under the care of chronic pain specialists, ensuring a more comprehensive treatment approach.
This new compound belonging to the family of tetrahydropyrazolo-pyrazine (THPP) named BIO-2007817 can reactive a protein in the cells called parkin. This specific protein is responsible for tagging the damaged mitochondria in the cells so that they can be recycled or replaced by healthier mitochondria.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is behind many health conditions. Mitochondria are small structures within the cells that produce energy, like furnaces. Each cell has multiple mitochondria. However, if these damaged furnaces are not replaced, the cell’s energy supply suffers, resulting in various diseases.
Since parkin tags damaged mitochondria, dysfunction of this protein causes many health issues, including playing a critical role in Parkinson’s development. This dysfunction of parkin protein may happen for various reasons like oxidative stress, genetics, environmental factors, and more.
This new molecule, BIO-2007817, sticks to the parkin and reactivates it. Once parkin starts working, brain cells are able to recycle damaged mitochondria more efficiently.
Parkinson’s can be a really debilitating condition. Like many other neurodegenerative disorders, researchers are unsure of why it occurs or what precisely causes the condition. However, they believe that oxidative stress and exposure to toxins play a crucial role in disease development.
Parkinson’s develops gradually over the years. It often begins with a slight tremor or stiffness in the body. However, as the disease progresses, it causes significant disability and even dementia.
Parkinson’s is not just about tremors or movement changes. It also causes balance impairment, loss of sense of smell, facial expression changes, voice tremors, sleep issues, and much more.
Parkin protein is well-known to science, as it helps recycle mitochondria. Once mitochondria are tagged by this protein, they are removed from the cells through the process called mitophagy. After clearing damaged mitochondria, cells replace them with new and fully functional mitochondria.
Since this new molecule appears to be good in the early stages of Parkinson’s, it is right to ask if it can help treat, cure, or reverse advanced Parkinson’s. Well, it may help, but it is unlikely to cure or reverse advanced Parkinson’s. This is because, in advanced neurodegenerative disorders, much damage has already occurred. Many critical brain cells have been lost forever.
Activating parkin protein can help recycle mitochondria and thus help prevent cell death, which is beneficial in the early stages of the disease. However, activating parkin in later stages cannot help or promote the regrowth of brain cells that have been lost forever.
Of course, this molecule will still help, even in advanced disease stages. However, its benefit would be much less. Here, it is vital to understand that neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s differ significantly in their early stages from the disease in its advanced stage. Interventional pain management could also benefit from such discoveries, as they aim to address complex conditions holistically, helping those dealing with multiple symptoms.
Parkin can help prevent cell death, improve energy supply, and reverse certain pathological changes in the cells. However, if the brain cells have died, then it cannot recover them, and all it can do is prevent further death of brain cells. Additionally, in advanced stages of the disease, other pathological processes become predominant; hence, parkin might not be able to stop those processes.
Source:
Sauvé, V., Stefan, E., Croteau, N., Goiran, T., Fakih, R., Bansal, N., Hadzipasic, A., Fang, J., Murugan, P., Chen, S., Fon, E. A., Hirst, W. D., Silvian, L. F., Trempe, J.-F., & Gehring, K. (2024). Activation of parkin by a molecular glue. Nature Communications, 15(1), 7707. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51889-3
