In an effort to find a treatment for Parkinson’s disease that is easy to make and could be nontoxic in humans, a team of UAB Biotechnology students made a discovery in our labs that is now undergoing efficacy studies on marmosets at the University of Wisconsin.

The neurodegenerative disease, Parkinson’s disease, is caused by the formation of protein aggregates due to misfolding of the protein, α-synuclein. Using a cell-based model of α-synuclein aggregation, our students tested two dopamine molecules called IPX-750 and IPX-760. These molecules are conjugated to simple sugar and previous studies showed that they eliminated symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in three animal models.

Our Biotechnology students found that IPX-750 and IPX-760 reduced α-synuclein aggregation significantly and represent potential treatments for this debilitating disease.