Development of a drug discovery pipeline for secondary progressive MS

Start Term
End Term
Funding Amount
$608,595
Affiliation(s)
Centre de Recherche du CHUM
Geographic Region(s) / Province(s)
Quebec
Researcher(s)
Dr. Alexandre Prat
Research Priorities
Progressive MS
Impact Goal(s)
Advance Treatment and Care

Summary:

  • Previous work from Dr. Dr. Francisco Quintana’s Drug Discovery Collaborative Research Network identified a promising compound with the potential to stop biological processes involved in progressive MS.
  • In this study, Dr. Alexandre Prat and team will further refine and optimize this compound using pre-clinical mouse models of progressive MS.
  • The analysis of the compound is a critical step in the drug discovery pipeline to develop effective therapies for people with progressive MS.

Project Description:

In collaboration with Dr. Francisco Quintana’s (Harvard University) Drug Discovery Collaborative Research Network, Dr. Alexandre Prat and team will test promising drug-like compounds that target critical disease processes in progressive MS. Previous work from the research network identified a compound capable of stopping MS-like disease in mice by blocking interactions between microglia and astrocytes, cells which are involved in driving harmful brain inflammation in MS. In this new study, the researchers aim to refine, optimize and further develop this compound and potentially other compounds that target microglia-astrocyte interactions. These effects of these compounds on disease development, brain inflammation, nerve fibre loss and demyelination will be tested in pre-clinical mouse  models that recapitulate features of progressive MS.

Potential Impact:

Findings from this research have the potential to accelerate the development of new therapeutics for people with progressive MS.

Project Status: In Progress