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Replies to post #183624 on Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)
03/04/19 7:19 AM
The current findings show for the first time that activation of Sig-1R with ANAVEX®2-73 leads to the prominent induction of the autophagy “cellular recycling” process and enhanced protein clearance in cells. The study, led by Christian Behl et. al. of the University Medical Center at Johannes Gutenberg University, in Mainz, Germany, has been published in the peer-reviewed journal, Cells (link).
“These results show that activating the sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) with ANAVEX®2-73 can selectively induce the autophagy process and increase protein homeostasis in both in vitroand in vivo models,” said Christopher U. Missling, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anavex. “The ability to identify key molecular functions in age-related disease is central to developing new therapeutic strategies that target these mechanisms and ultimately provide clinical impact by preventing or treating disease.”
Autophagy is a cellular process that cleans cells of defective proteins and is part of a set of mechanisms that participate in proteostasis, or the balance of the protein network. Loss of proteostasis and dysfunction of the autophagy process, has been closely linked to the pathogenesis of human neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS[1].
“There is a great amount of data linking dysfunction and malfunction of autophagy to neurodegenerative disease and, consistent with its role in proteostasis, to the accumulation of protein aggregates. Thus, the modulation of autophagy has become one key pharmacological target in neurodegeneration,” the researchers reported. “In fact, there are multiple overlaps of autophagy and pathogenesis pathways in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS. Recently different alternative views and new pharmacological targets towards Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment are evolving and include a strong focus on the autophagy process.”
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