Inhibiting GPR37-PSAP signaling for Parkinson’s disease

Inhibiting the interaction between the oligodendrocyte G-protein-coupled receptor GPR37 and its neuronally secreted ligand PSAP could help treat Parkinson’s disease by blocking downstream IL-6 expression in oligodendrocytes, thus decreasing neuroinflammation and subsequent dopaminergic neuron loss and motor impairments.

GPR37 mRNA expression was higher in substantia nigra pars compacta oligodendrocytes from Parkinson’s disease patients than in samples from individuals without Parkinson’s disease. In bioinformatic analysis of public data sets, GPR37 expression was higher in substantia nigra pars compacta samples from Parkinson’s disease patients than in samples from individuals without Parkinson’s disease. ...