UT Dallas Biology Professor Santosh D’Mello and SMU Chemistry Professor Edward R. Biehl tested 45 chemical compounds, four of which were found to be the most potent at protecting brain cells, called neurons.

The synthesized chemicals, called “3-substituted indolin-2-one compounds,” are derivatives of another compound called GW5074, which was shown to prevent neurodegeneration in a past report published by the D’Mello lab. Although effective at protecting neurons from decay or death, GW5074 is toxic to cells at slightly elevated doses, which makes it unsuitable for clinical testing in patients. The newly identified, second-generation compounds maintain the protective feature of GW5074 but are not toxic — even at very high doses — and hold promise in halting the steady march of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

“Sadly, neurodegenerative diseases are a challenge for our elderly population,” D’Mello said. “People are living longer and are more impacted by diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis than ever before — which means we need to aggressively look for drugs that treat diseases. But most exciting now are our efforts to stop the effects of brain disease right in its tracks. Although the newly discovered compounds have only been tested in cultured neurons and mice, they do offer hope.”


http://www.physorg.com/news145285865.html