Prana tackles Parkinson's disease

A paper published in prestigious journal Neuron has heralded Prana Biotechnology's technology as a potential therapeutic for Parkinson's disease and revealed the company's strategy to develop its MPAC (metal protein attenuating protein) class of compounds as a platform technology for a variety of diseases.

The paper, co-authored by Prana scientific advisor Prof Ashley Bush in collaboration with scientists at the Buck Institute for Age Research in California and Robert Cherny, a Prana scientist at the University of Melbourne, describes the use of iron chelation by genetic or pharmacological means to prevent neurotoxicity caused by the use of the Parkinson's inducing agent MPTP in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

Previously, Bush had demonstrated that clioquinol, a member of the MPAC class of compounds, could reduce accumulation of beta amyloid plaques in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, through chelation of copper and zinc, which interact with beta amyloid. In the case of Parkinson's disease, the metal iron interacts with neural protein alpha-synuclein.

"Prana's scientists have long recognized the pivotal role of the interaction between metals and proteins in neurodegenerative disorders," said Prana's chief operating officer Dr Ross Murdoch. "In effect, what we believe is that our compounds interfere with the ability of metals to interact with these proteins."

As with the Alzheimer's disease program, Prana is initially working with clioquinol to provide proof of concept for the use of MPACs to treat Parkinson's disease, while the company develops its own MPAC compounds.

According to Murdoch, the company now needs to look clioquinol and other MPACs in some other animal models for Parkinson's disease, prior to taking a lead compound into preclinical and clinical development.

Murdoch said that selection of lead compounds is "in the foreseeable future," and suggested that compounds for each disease would probably be taken forward separately.

In addition, the company is looking at other neurodegenerative diseases, including motor neurone disease, which involve metal toxicity.

"Although the headlines have been around Alzheimer's disease, our work has been on whether MPACs can be used to treat these other diseases," said Murdoch.

The technology may even turn out to be useful for non-neurodegenerative diseases, he said, and Prana has been in discussion with various groups about this.

"The bottom line is that this isn't a change in approach for us, we are not shotgunning for new indications," said Murdoch. "Clearly this is stepping down the same path."