British researchers may have found a drug that could tackle the movement problems faced by people with Parkinson’s disease, it has been announced.
The Sheffield University researchers were studying a gene linked to the disease when they discovered that deacetylase inhibitors might restore movement.
So far the work has only been undertaken involving fruit flies.
They have reported their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
Their study centred on the LRRK2 gene and they found the drug could "fully restore" the movement problems faced by animals bred to have this mutation.
Researcher Dr Kurt De Vos said: “Our study provides compelling evidence that there is a direct link between defective transport within nerve cells and movement problems caused by the LRRK2 Parkinson’s mutation in flies.
“These are very promising results which point to a potential Parkinson’s therapy. However, further studies are needed to confirm that this rescue effect also applies in humans.“
Fellow researcher Dr Alex Whitworth said: “By targeting the transport system with drugs, we could not only prevent movement problems, but also fully restore movement abilities in fruit flies who already showed impaired movement marked by a significant decrease in both climbing and flight ability.”
Dr Beckie Port, of Parkinson’s UK, welcomed the findings.
She said: “This research gives hope that, for people with a particular mutation in their genes, it may one day be possible to intervene and stop the progression of Parkinson’s."
Godena V K et al. Increasing Microtubule Acetylation Rescues Axonal Transport And Locomotor Deficits Caused by LRRK2 Roc-COR Domain Mutations. Nature Communications 15 October 2014
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