Exploring common disease mechanisms to personalise understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Hjernesykdommer betraktes som Europas fremste helseutfordring i det 21. århundre. Nevrodegenerative forstyrrelser er sykdommer i sentralnervesystemet som utgjør en stor byrde for pasienter, omsorgspersoner og samfunnet generelt. Det finnes for tiden ingen effektiv behandling. Studier tyder på at genetiske varianter som påvirker basale cellulære prosesser, slik som mitokondriell funksjon og nedbrytning av aggregerte proteiner og ødelagte organeller ved autofagi, gir økt risiko for å utvikle nevrodegenerative sykdommer. NEUROMIT har som mål å bedre vår forståelse av hvordan disse basale cellulære mekanismene bidrar til den nevrodegenerative prosessen, og hvordan disse kan benyttes diagnostisk eller potensielt manipuleres terapeutisk. Denne kunnskapen er avgjørende for utviklingen av nye terapier rettet mot spesifikke patogene prosesser, og muliggjør skreddersydd behandling for den enkelte pasient. Et slikt mål kan bare nås gjennom etablering av tverrfaglige nettverk som inneholder både nasjonale og internasjonale eksperter i grunnleggende, anvendt, klinisk og translasjonell forskning. NEUROMIT-konsortiet samler eksperter i grunnleggende cellebiologiske prosesser involvert i nevrodegenerering, stamcellebiologi og klinisk nevrovitenskap. Dette gjør det mulig å følge opp nye funn fra basale mekanistiske studier til terapeutiske og forebyggende strategier for neurodegenerativ sykdom. NEUROMIT er basert på aktivt prosjektsamarbeid mellom involverte partnere og med internasjonale eksperter gjennom fokuserte workshops, som danner grunnlag for fremtidige samarbeid og felles EU søknader.

This project has resulted in: - the establishment of new collaboration projects, both within the NEUROMIT consortium and with other national and international partners. - Active dissemination of results, including publication of a total of 39 research papers, 13 popular science publications, 2 media coverages and 12 conference presentations. - Generation of human induced pluriopotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from 8 Parkinson Disease patients as a resource for the NUROMIT partners and other scientists. - Organization of three NEUROMIT workshops with invited international speakers, consortium partners and other interested participants. - Submission of several applications to H2020 where one was granted and one (ERC SyG) is currently being evaluated in step 2.

Neurodegenerative brain disorders are considered to be Europe's foremost health care challenge of the 21st century. These are devastating diseases of the central nervous system that represent a major burden not only to patients, but also caregivers and society. There are currently no effective cures. Studies strongly suggest that genetic variants affecting basal cellular processes, such as mitochondrial function and clearance of damaged proteins and organelles by autophagy, confer increased risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. NEUROMIT aims to address the fundamental challenge of how these common disease mechanisms contribute to neurodegeneration, and how they can be manipulated to improve early diagnosis and generate potential therapeutic interventions. This combined approach is crucial for the development of novel therapies targeting specific pathogenic processes, and to provide tailored, personalized treatments for the individual patient. Such a goal can only be reached through the synergism of interdisciplinary networks containing both national and international experts in fundamental, applied, clinical and translational research. The NEUROMIT consortium brings together experts in the fundamental biological processes involved in neurodegeneration, stem cell biology and clinical neuroscience. This complementarity of expertise and research focus offers the best means of translating novel findings from basal mechanistic studies into robust therapeutic and preventive strategies for neurodegenerative diseases. NEUROMIT will be based on active project collaboration between partners and the involvement of international experts organized initially through focused workshops. Subsequently, these links will be used to build future collaborations between project partners and international scientists of high standing.