Mechanism of Parkinson’s Disease and Therapeutic Strategies

Parkinson’s disease is becoming a healthcare crisis as the number of people over the age of 60 is growing rapidly. In this presentation, Hoang will talk about the two most promising drug targets for Parkinson’s disease namely alpha-synuclein and LRRK2. Alpha-synuclein was traditionally known as a natively unfolded protein. Hoang will present evidence supporting its existence as a folded protein and how this changed the approach to potential therapeutic strategies. LRRK2 is a large multi-domain dual-enzymatic protein whose kinase activity is being targeted for potential therapeutics. Hoang will present the use of X-ray crystallography to guide an alternative strategy for modulating LRRK activity for potential therapeutic purposes.