Refining the efficacy of systemic administration of bioactive molecules for Parkinson's Disease - RePark

Project summary

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease primarily linked to ageing affecting the psychomotor functions. An impairment in the activity of dopaminergic neurons (aggregation and intracellular accumulation of alfa-synuclein), is at the basis of this functional loss. Current therapies do not revert the PD progression but stand on the relief of the symptoms. Importantly, the efficacy of new therapeutic approaches is hampered by the lack of in vitro models that mimic the PD’s hallmarks. Moreover, the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches is hampered by the low ability of the drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). RePark will develop an in vitro PD model that combines a mimic of the BBB, the brain’s extracellular matrix (ECM) and brain cells. With this system it will be possible to overcome the disadvantages of using animal models and to recapitulate in vitro the cellular characteristics of PD, as well as to assess the delivery and efficacy of new therapeutic drugs.