Trio of KI researchers join forces against Parkinson's disease with donation from Promobilia
The Promobilia Foundation is donating SEK 25 million to enable four research groups from Karolinska Institutet and Lund University to join forces in a major research project designed to develop new treatment strategies for the fundamental causes of Parkinson’s disease. The quartet will be using innovative methods, including advanced gene therapies and target-specific vectors, which are able not only to reach but also to protect the most vulnerable cells in Parkinson’s disease.
“Parkinson’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s, and causes suffering and lost opportunities to live a full life for millions of people,” says Professor Thomas Perlmann at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet. “Current therapies alleviate the symptoms for a while, but don’t stop the disease progressing.”
Three research groups at KI led by Professor Thomas Perlmann, Professor Per Svenningsson (Department of Clinical Neuroscience) and docent Karima Chergui (Department of Physiology and Pharmacology) are now launching a research project with Professor Tomas Björklund’s research group at Lund University.
Four research groups in collaboration
The purpose of this four-way collaboration is to develop parallel approaches focused on retarding or blocking the course of Parkinson’s disease.
The researchers hope to find new ways to treat the disease while creating tailored vectors – safe carriers – able to bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver drugs to the brain.
“There’s a desperate need for therapies that can block or at least slow down the neuronal atrophy that is the very root cause of the disease,” says Professor Perlmann. “Our joint research project aims to achieve such a breakthrough by exploring several parallel tracks in close collaboration.”
From lab to clinic
Together, the research groups will be building an infrastructure of research resources that will benefit translational research, with the goal of taking the project from the laboratory to the clinic.
The quartet’s expertise ranges from preclinical to clinical research led by consultant Per Svenningsson, professor of neurology and research group leader.
The collaboration with Professor Björklund at Lund University will enable the use of viral vectors that can be used both experimentally in animal models and for the development of gene therapy.
With the new technique being developed in the laboratory in Lund, new innovative therapies, such as gene therapy, can be transported from the blood or cerebrospinal fluid into the brain to target a specific type of neuron.
“New technologies in medical research have opened up completely new possibilities for treating various diseases that currently lead to functional impairment,” says Patrik Malmunger, ceo of the Promobilia Foundation. “What could previously only be alleviated will hopefully be slowed down or cured in the future. The strategic focus on Parkinson's disease is timely and in line with our support for research and innovation that can give people with disabilities an active and independent life.”
About Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease is an incurable neurological disease that causes the death of dopamine-producing brain cells, leading to motor and balance deficits, impaired speech and memory and depression. As the disease progresses, it can also give rise to symptoms of dementia.
At present, the only therapies in use alleviate the symptoms; there are no therapies able to retard neuronal death and the pathological process.
Over 10 million people around the world are estimated to live with Parkinson’s disease and although the incidence rises with age, four per cent of people with the disease are diagnosed before the age of 50.
In Sweden, some 2,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease annually, men more commonly than women.