Nitrase Therapeutics Announces Major Discovery In Parkinson’s Disease

Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly Nitrome Biosciences) recently announced an oral presentation at the AD/PD International Conference on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and related neurological disorders taking place in Barcelona, Spain from March 15-20, 2022. The presentation, titled Discovery of Nitrated Alpha Synuclein Species as Robust CSF Biomarkers for Parkinson’s Disease Patients, reviews data suggesting that an increased level of nitrated synuclein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients is a strong biomarker for Parkinson’s disease.

“These early findings represent a major discovery as nitrated synuclein could be a selective biomarker for Parkinson’s diagnosis, possibly leading to earlier detection and treatment of the disease,” said Irene Griswold-Prenner, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Nitrase Therapeutics. “Furthermore, this study illustrates the important role that nitrated synuclein plays in Parkinson’s disease. To our knowledge, we are the first to have identified, and are the only ones advancing, inhibitors of Synuclein Nitrase, the enzyme responsible for nitrating synuclein, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.”

The study sought to determine if nitrated synuclein in CSF is detected and elevated in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Highly sensitive and selective SIMOA immunoassays were used to measure total synuclein and nitration of alpha-synuclein at tyrosine 39 (nY39) and tyrosine 136 (nY136) in human CSF. The study found that nitrated alpha-synuclein is significantly elevated in the CSF of patients with Parkinson’s disease (n=28) at both nY39 and nY136 (nY39: 3.7 -/+ 2.5 vs 37.1 -/+ 36.3 pg/ml, respectively, p < 0.01) and (nY136: 4.9 -/+ 3.9 vs 27.9 -/+ 17.7 pg/ml, respectively, p < 0.001). Studies with larger patient cohorts will determine if these assays can serve as biomarkers for prognosis, disease progression, patient stratification and/or drug target engagement.

Nitrase Therapeutics is a pioneering biopharmaceutical company deploying its unique NITROME platform to unlock the therapeutic potential of nitrases, a new class of enzymes that it discovered, to develop a pipeline of therapies against a broad range of diseases. The medicines that Nitrase Therapeutics is developing will target these enzymes and potentially help slow or halt the progression of numerous diseases in which nitrases and nitro-substrates play a role, including Parkinson’s, cancer, immunological and fibrotic diseases. Nitrase Therapeutics (under the former name Nitrome Biosciences) has been widely recognized and has won multiple awards including the prestigious Target Advancement grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF). Nitrase Therapeutics is located in Brisbane, CA, and its investors include AbbVie Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dementia Discovery Fund, Mission Bay Capital and Sofinnova Partners. For more information, visit www.nitrasetx.com.