British researchers have identified a naturally-occurring compound that may be helpful in halting the development of Parkinson’s disease.
Squalamine is a form of steroid which was discovered in the tissues of the dogfish shark and has potent antimicrobial effects, say a team from Cambridge University, UK, led by Professor Christopher Dobson.
Previous research by Dr Michael Zasloff, who also took part in this study, suggests that squalamine may have potential as a treatment for many conditions, including cancer.
This new study explored its ability to displace alpha-synuclein from cell membranes. This could be beneficial, the researchers say, as alpha-synuclein binds to the membranes of synaptic vesicles helping transfer neurotransmitters between neurons.
Normally this is helpful, but in Parkinson’s disease the process malfunctions and clumps form, creating toxic particles harmful to brain cells.
Lab tests on the effects of squalamine on alpha-synuclein and lipid vesicles found that squalamine inhibits the clumps by competing for binding sites on the surfaces of synthetic vesicles, the researchers say.
Hence squalamine significantly reduces the rate at which toxic particles form, the experts wrote in Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences yesterday (17 January).
Squalamine also appeared to suppress the toxicity of these particles in further tests on human neuronal cells. In addition, tests on nematode worms genetically programmed to over-express alpha-synuclein in their muscle cells showed that squalamine prevented alpha-synuclein aggregation.
Dr Zasloff said: "We could literally see that the oral treatment of squalamine did not allow alpha-synuclein to cluster, and prevented muscular paralysis inside the worms."
"Together, the results imply that squalamine could be used as the basis of a treatment targeting at least some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease," the team believes.
Zasloff, M. et al. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences 17 January 2017; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1610586114
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