News Releases & Research Results Study finds commonalities between intractable neurological diseases and cancer ―Provides a ray of hope for new treatment of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy !―

Results of R&D by a research group of Professor Masahisa Katsuno and Researcher Madoka Iida of the Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Appointed Professor Gen Sobue of Nagoya University (President of Aichi Medical University), and others.

• The study found that in a type of neurodegenerative disease, spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy ^(*), a protein called "Src" is already phosphorylated (Src is activated) in the spinal cord and skeletal muscle before the symptoms of motor disorders appear.
  ^(*) Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA): a genetic neurodegenerative disease, which occurs in adult men only. It is a progressive disease associated with generalized muscle weakness, dysphagia, etc.
• It was made clear that the compounds that decrease the "Src" activation are promising new therapeutic agents for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.
• In addition, the results of the study showed that the compounds that suppress "Src" activation may be a potential treatment for intractable neurological diseases and cancer since "Src" is also activated in various cancers.

This R&D was conducted with the support of AMED, etc.

The results of this R&D were published on September 19 in the online version of Nature Communications, an American scientific journal.

Iida M., et al. Src inhibition attenuates polyglutamine-mediated neuromuscular degeneration in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, Nature Communications
DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-12282-7