BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

This is (a diagnostic) spinal tap

September 13, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

A team led by KineMed Inc. researchers has shown that measuring the kinetics of CNS proteins in cerebrospinal fluid could help diagnose Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.1 The company is now exploring the utility of the approach to diagnose multiple neurodegenerative diseases and monitor treatment responses.

Neurons in the brain synthesize and secrete a range of proteins that move along the microtubule structures of axons to the nerve endings-a process known as axonal transport. There, the proteins enter extracellular fluids, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)...