NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Lucigen today announced it has received a $187,000 grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation to study a protein that has been implicated in Parkinson's disease.
Research will be directed at LRRK2, a protein found throughout the brain. Lucigen said that researchers are particularly interested in how LRRK2 responds to different drug compounds. Small chemical compounds that may inhibit this enzyme may be useful in shedding light on the mechanisms of Parkinson's and ultimately lead to effective treatments for the disease.
The goal of the grant is to develop an inexpensive, high-throughput method for screening compounds that may inhibit LRRK2.
"This grant enables Lucigen to utilize our core strengths in protein engineering, along with a proprietary fluorescent protein previously isolated by Lucigen, in order to advance medical research into a devastating disease," David Mead, CEO of the company, said in a statement.
The Middleton, Wis.-based firm said that several new research positions have been added as part of the grant.