Page 12 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

Research into Parkinson’s disease to be pioneered by the RVC and UCL with $7 million grant
Researchers at the RVC and UCL are launching a pioneering new study into the causes and progression of Parkinson’s
disease, following a $7 million grant from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disease of brain degeneration that occurs when brain cells that make dopamine,
a chemical that coordinates movement, either stop working or die. This causes people with Parkinson’s to develop slowness, tremors, stiffness, and walking and balance problems. Parkinson’s affects over 130,000 people in the UK alone, and currently available treatments act only to alleviate symptoms, but not slow progression of the disease. This significant grant will enable the research team to explore the possibilities of future prevention and treatment of the condition.
The researchers at the RVC, led by Dr Patrick Lewis, Professor of Neuroscience, have been awarded $659,000 from ASAP to use cellular and biochemical approaches to investigate the role of the LRRK2 gene in Parkinson’s.
Mutations in the LRRK2 gene are the most common genetic cause of Parkinson’s, making it a priority drug
target for the disease, however the molecular details of how this gene
can influence the progression of neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s have not yet been fully explored.
Dr Patrick Lewis said: “The Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s foundation grants represent a new way of approaching research into Parkinson’s, with the clear goal of accelerating progress in our understanding of this disorder. It is a real privilege to be involved in this initiative.”
Professor Jonathan Elliott, Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation) at the RVC, said: “The RVC is delighted to be
part of this large collaborative effort
to advance treatments for Parkinson’s Disease. Neurodegenerative conditions significantly impact on the quality of life of our ageing human population in the UK and Professor Lewis’ role in this collaboration is exciting in its potential
to uncover new drug targets to slow progressive loss of functioning neurons."
RVC research could hold the key to tendon treatment
Arecent RVC study, which examined protein turnover rates in the tendons of rats, found that tendons are a dynamic tissue with varying turnover rates of proteins – a discovery that may eventually provide a greater understanding of how tendon disease and other connective tissue disorders can be treated.
Previous research had shown that
the interfascicular matrix, which forms part of the tendon and is the structure surrounding and separating fascicles, allows sliding between fascicles. This means that it may be prone to damage.
Building upon these findings, the recent study, led by Dr Chavaunne Thorpe, Versus Arthritis Career Development Fellow at the RVC, sought to establish if the turnover rate of proteins in the interfascicular matrix
is greater than in the fascicles, which would help repair any damage.
Researchers fed rats labelled ‘heavy’ water to allow for the identification of newly synthesised proteins and collected separate samples from fascicles and
interfascicular matrix regions of the rats’ Achilles tendons using laser-assisted microdissection. They used mass spectrometry and bioinformatics to calculate the turnover rates of individual proteins identified within the fascicles and interfascicular matrix.
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Manu5 (CC BY-SA 4.0)