Parkinson disease and other neurodegenerative movement disorders: clinical and experimental research

Problem

Parkinson’s disease is the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder; its causes involve both genetic and environmental factors, it only has symptomatic treatments, and it remains incurable. The other neurodegenerative movement disorders (multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, Huntington’s disease, etc.) are even less well understood. Common features of these diseases include protein aggregation (alpha-synuclein, tau, huntingtin) and the fact that, by the time symptoms appear, many neurons have already died. Therefore, early biomarkers are needed to treat them when degeneration is still mild.

Approach

Our approach combines detailed clinical characterization with innovation in molecular laboratory and neuroimaging biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and monitoring of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative movement disorders. We investigate the early stages of the disease, even before symptom onset, in order to identify sensitive and early markers that enable clinical trials assessing new experimental therapies with neuroprotective potential at stages when neurodegeneration is still mild or minimal.

Impact

Our research has made it possible to create clinically well-characterized cohorts and comprehensive biorepositories of samples from people with Parkinson’s disease, both sporadic and genetic, as well as from individuals with atypical parkinsonism or Huntington’s disease. This work has enabled the validation and implementation of innovative laboratory and neuroimaging biomarkers, the detailed study of the disease’s molecular mechanisms in advanced cellular models, and active participation in numerous cutting-edge therapeutic clinical trials.