MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Prana Biotechnology Limited , today announced that Aging Cell, a journal addressing fundamental issues in the biology of aging, has published a new paper in its February edition entitled, “Radioiodinated Clioquinol as a Biomarker for beta-amyloid: Zn2+ complexes in Alzheimer’s disease.”
The paper reveals that Prana’s MPACs, “Metal Protein Attenuating Compounds,” as demonstrated by clioquinol (CQ), can enter the brain and seek out the relevant AD therapeutic target -- the metal-bound beta-amyloid (beta- amyloid), as Prana scientists have long hypothesized. Previously it had been shown that MPACs can dissolve plaque taken from post mortem human Alzheimer brain tissue(1), reduce formation of the A-beta aggregates in AD mouse models(1) and block the production of toxic radicals from metal bound amyloid(2) in vitro, thereby detoxifying the amyloid. But until this study, in vivo proof of the specific target of MPACs had been difficult to establish and the erroneous perception of MPACs as mere metal “chelators” had persisted.
“This is the first demonstration in a living animal that clioquinol can be tracked to the biochemical target we have long believed it was attacking, the metal bound beta-amyloid,” said Professor Ashley Bush of the Harvard Medical School and the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria (Australia), and a Prana co-founding scientist. “What is exciting is seeing the injected labeled CQ make its way to the area of interest in the brain and target the zinc bound plaque-like aggregates in mouse brains. This visualization of the MPAC theory in action is really satisfying.
“These data also establish that Prana MPACs can be labeled with radioactivity and that there may be potential for development as diagnostic markers for Alzheimer’s disease, possibly detecting the disease years before symptoms begin,” added Dr. Bush
Based on the hypothesis that beta-amyloid is a key player in the onset and deterioration of Alzheimer’s disease, Prana maintains that it is the inappropriate interaction of beta-amyloid with brain metals -- copper and zinc -- that causes this otherwise normal brain protein to form toxic accumulations. Unlike current approved Alzheimer’s therapies that only treat the symptoms of the disease, Prana’s MPACs target the underlying cause of the disease.
The founding scientists, Professors Ashley Bush, Rudolph Tanzi and Colin Masters, theories concerning the interaction between metals and the protein beta-amyloid in the brain are the basis of Prana’s treatments for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
About Aging Cell magazine
Aging Cell is a new journal aiming to publish novel and exciting science that addresses fundamental issues in the biology of aging. All areas of aging biology are welcome in the journal and the experimental approaches used can be wide-ranging. With the rapid developments in genomic sequencing and analysis, and availability of new technologies to analyze functional genomics and proteomics, the combined powers of genetics, biochemistry and cell biology are leading to the very rapid production of new information.
About Prana Biotechnology Limited
Prana Biotechnology was established to commercialize research into Alzheimer’s disease and other major age-related degenerative disorders. The company was incorporated in 1997 and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in March 2000 and on NASDAQ in September 2002. Researchers at prominent international institutions including the University of Melbourne and Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, generated the scientific basis for Prana’s technology.
For further information, please visit our web site at http://www.pranabio.com. Contacts: Investor Relations Media Relations Kathy Price Ivette Almeida The Global Consulting Group The Global Consulting Group T: 646-284-9430 T: 646-284-9455 E: kprice@hfgcg.com E: ialmeida@hfgcg.com Footnotes: (1) Cherny. et. al Neuron (2001);v30:665-676 (2002) (2) Puglielli e t al. The Journal of Clinical Investigation (2005), v.115, No. 9.
Prana Biotechnology Limited
CONTACT: Investor Relations, Kathy Price, +1-646-284-9430,kprice@hfgcg.com, or Media Relations, Ivette Almeida, +1-646-284-9455,ialmeida@hfgcg.com, both of The Global Consulting Group for PranaBiotechnology Limited
Web site: http://www.pranabio.com/
