Date: 2015-11-23
Type of information: Grant
Company: Addex Therapeutics (Switzerland)
Investors: Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) (Switzerland)
Amount: CHF666,240
Funding type: grant
Planned used: The grant will be used to advance the characterization of allosteric modulator therapeutics for neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. Addex will collaborate with the group of Prof. Ron Stoop at the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience (CNP), part of Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and Lausanne University (UNIL). The objective of the project is the characterization and optimization of potent and selective allosteric modulators targeting metabotropic glutamate receptors subtypes 4 and 7. Effect of drug candidates will be assessed in electrophysiological studies using optogenetic approaches, targeting specifically the thalamus-to-amygdala synapse, a connection central to fear learning and extinction. The mGluR4 belongs to the Group III mGluRs (Class C G-Protein Coupled Receptor) and is negatively coupled to adenylate cyclase via activation of the Galphai/o protein. It is expressed primarily on presynaptic terminals, functioning as an autoreceptor or heteroceptor and its activation leads to decreases in neurotransmitter release from presynaptic terminals. The mGluR4 is uniquely distributed in key brain regions involved in multiple CNS disorders. In particular, mGluR4 is abundant in striato-pallidal synapses within the basal ganglia circuitry a key area implicated in movement disorders, like Parkinson\'s disease. In the immune system mGluR4 has been found on dendritic cells (DCs). Emerging data implicate mGluR4 in multiple indications such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson\'s disease, anxiety, neuropathic and inflammatory pain, schizophrenia, autism and diabetes.
The mGluR7 receptor is the most highly conserved of all mGluR subtypes, exhibiting the widest distribution in the brain. It is localized pre-synaptically at a broad range of glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses and is thought to be one of the most important mGluR subtypes in regulating CNS function. Preclinical data suggest that mGluR7 antagonism could alleviate stress-related anxiety and depressive symptoms and deficits in amygdala-dependent behaviors (fear response and conditioned taste aversion). These data are consistent with the abundant localization of mGluR7 in brain regions involved in the control of fear and emotion.
Others: * On November 23, 2015, Addex Therapeutics announced that it has been awarded a CHF666,240 grant from the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) to advance the characterization of allosteric modulator therapeutics for neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.
Therapeutic area:
