A Real-Time Science Report Advances in Parkinson’s Disease Therapies

ICBII UPDATE

ON THE ROAD TO THE CURE

A Real-Time Science Report

Advances in Parkinson’s Disease Therapies

The hallmark of Parkinson’s disease is the loss of dopamine producing neurons in the substantia nigra region of the brain. Like other major neurodegenerative disorders, there are no disease-modifying treatments for Parkinson’s. Current therapies only provide short-term symptomatic relief without slowing down or halting the disease progression. While most treatment strategies aim to prevent dopamine producing neuronal loss or protect vulnerable neuronal circuits, a potential alternative is to replace lost neurons to reconstruct disrupted circuits. This is exactly what UCSD researchers did as described in Nature, 582, 550(2020). The researchers reported an efficient one-step conversion of isolated mouse astrocytes to functional neurons by depleting the RNA-binding poly-pyrimidine tract-binding (PTB) protein. These scientists first generated a chemically induced model of Parkinson’s disease in a mouse. Then, they mechanically injected an antisense oligonucleotide into the brain of Parkinson’s mouse to inhibit PTB. The publication claims that a single injection/treatment converted midbrain astrocytes to dopaminergic neurons, accompanied by restoration of dopamine levels and rescue of motor deficits. 

            “On the surface, this report appears almost too good to be true,” says Ram Bhatt of ICB International, Inc., (“ICBII”), La Jolla.  “However, most big discoveries have almost always been unbelievable and ridiculed by the scientific community, initially. There may be some questions for the believability of this report for two reasons:

1.  Lack of validation in the hands of a third party.

2. Retraction and/or correction of previously published research articles by the same authors who published the above Nature article. “

Nevertheless, if this study pans out, delivery will be a big issue because injecting drugs into the human brain will require hospitalization that often poses serious risks, in addition to outrageous hospital bills.

How ICBII Can Convert this Discovery into a Realistic Non-Invasive Therapy?

Should PTB turn out to be a genuine target whose inhibition or depletion converts midbrain astrocytes into dopaminergic neurons, ICBII can develop a blood-brain barrier permeable SMART Molecules for PTB that can be injected intravenously without the need for drilling a hole in the brain to inject the drug.

Would you like to help get ICBII’s drugs to market faster? The joy of being a part of this historical event can be had by helping ICBI find the funds to bring these trials to fruition through your investing, and by finding others with the financial ability and humanitarian mindset to accomplish the - until now - impossible. Please contact ICBI directly through their website ICBII.com or by phone at 858-455-9880, or contact Jo Rosen at PRO for a personal introduction to the scientists.

IMAGINE the world without Parkinson’s, MSA, or Alzheimer’s disease. JUST IMAGINE.