Power3 says it discovers differences in tagging of biomarkers between ALS and Parkinson's

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Dec. 22 - Power3 Medical Products, Inc. announced Thursday new and surprising results, revealing for the first time that three blood serum protein biomarkers useful in distinguishing patients with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and Parkinson's disease are actually different forms of the same protein, where the disease specific difference involves an important regulatory mechanism, the attachment of a tag to the protein.

"This is a new and exciting finding, that three biochemically distinct forms of the same protein have been found to differ in the blood serum from patients with Parkinson's disease and ALS," Ira L. Goldknopf, early pioneer in the science of proteomics and chief scientific officer of Power3, said in a company news release.

Goldknopf said this is a key protein that sits at the crossroads of the critical pathways of nerve cell degeneration and now has been found to differ between major neurodegenerative diseases of motor control.

Whereas the tagged form of this protein is elevated in both Parkinson's disease and ALS, the non-tagged forms are only elevated in Parkinson's disease, he said.

The finding of this protein-tagging difference provides highly valuable clues, he said, about how these diseases play out in the patients, biochemical differences that can point to targeted therapies exploiting them.

The potential for novel therapies and unique opportunities to diagnose and monitor the diseases, unearthed in these studies, raises hopes for proteomics that have been sought for many years, Goldknopf said.

The company said it will be publishing these findings in peer reviewed scientific journals and presenting them at major scientific conferences in 2006.

"With these results in hand, the company is accelerating the commercial development of its Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diagnostic tests utilizing these biomarkers. In addition, the company is accelerating the selection of a strategic partner to expedite the market introduction of the tests," Steven B. Rash, chairman and chief executive officer, said in the release.

Power3 is a Woodlands, Texas, proteomics company engaged in the discovery of protein footprints, pathways and mechanisms of diseases.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.