Exploring the commonalities in neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease and neuropathic pain to identify areas for therapeutic exploitation: ExCITE study
Principal Investigator: Emma Beecroft
The study
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and neuropathic pain (NP) often occur together, both conditions demonstrate an increase in prevalence with age. Pain is one of the most common comorbid and long-term conditions for the ageing population. With a growing ageing population, the prevalence and burden of both neurodegenerative conditions and pain will rise significantly.
Preliminary data shows common patterns in cell function for both conditions, which suggests that PD and NP share neurodegenerative mechanisms which could be altered through similar therapeutic interventions.
Models of PD and NP tend to be considered independently focusing on the mechanisms of each individual condition. This project is integrative; seeking to identify the ‘common ground’ between these two ageing conditions with the aim of finding wider therapeutic gain than just PD and NP alone through translation to other disorders.
Project milestones
- HiPSC lines cultures to pluripotent state and grown to adequate volume
- Neuronal differentiation and delineation in to healthy, Parkinson's disease and orofacial neuropathic pain models
- Completion of challenges (Patch clamp electrophysiology and immunocytochemistry) to models
- Data analysis and project write up