Latest Publications
Biogen and Alectos Therapeutics Announce License and Collaboration Agreement for AL01811, a Novel GBA2 Inhibitor for the Potential Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
AL01811 is a preclinical selective GBA2 inhibitor with first-in-class potential as an oral disease modifying treatment for Parkinson’s Disease Alectos to receive a $15 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive potential future development [...]
O-GlcNAcylation of TDP-43 Suppresses Proteinopathies and Promotes TDP-43’s mRNA Splicing Activity
Pathological TDP-43 aggregation is characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-TDP); however, how TDP-43 aggregation and function are regulated remain poorly understood. Here, we show that O-GlcNAc [...]
O-GlcNAcylation Ameliorates the Pathological Manifestations of Alzheimer’s Disease by Inhibiting Necroptosis
O-GlcNAcylation (O-linked β-N-acetylglucosaminylation) is notably decreased in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. Necroptosis is activated in AD brain and is positively correlated with neuroinflammation and tau pathology. However, the links among altered O-GlcNAcylation, β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation, [...]
O-GlcNAcylation Regulates Dopamine Neuron Function, Survival and Degeneration in Parkinson Disease
The dopamine system in the midbrain is essential for volitional movement, action selection, and reward-related learning. Despite its versatile roles, it contains only a small set of neurons in the brainstem. These dopamine neurons are [...]
MK-8719, a Novel and Selective O-GlcNAcase Inhibitor That Reduces the Formation of Pathological Tau and Ameliorates Neurodegeneration in a Mouse Model of Tauopathy
Deposition of hyperphosphorylated and aggregated tau protein in the central nervous system is characteristic of Alzheimer disease and other tauopathies. Tau is subject to O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification, and O-GlcNAcylation of tau has been shown [...]
Discovery of MK-8719, A Potent O-GlcNAcase Inhibitor as a Potential Treatment for Tauopathies
Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA) has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach to treat tau pathology in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. Beginning with carbohydrate-based lead molecules, we pursued an optimization [...]