Investigational Cancer Drug Can Boost Regeneration of Damaged Nerves After Spinal Cord Injury

Vince

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Scientists have demonstrated that a brain-penetrating candidate drug currently in development as a cancer therapy can promote regeneration of damaged nerves after spinal trauma.


The research used cell and animal models to show that when taken orally the candidate drug, known as AZD1390, can block the response to DNA

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or DNA damage in nerve cells and facilitate regeneration of damaged nerves, and therefore restoring sensory and motor function after spinal injury. The study by the University of Birmingham was published on July 12, 2022, in the journal Clinical and Translational Medicine.


The announcement comes just weeks after the same team of researchers demonstrated that a different investigational drug (AZD1236) can reduce damage after spinal cord injury, by blocking the inflammatory response. Both studies were supported by AstraZeneca’s Open Innovations Program, which shares compounds, tools, technologies, and expertise with the scientific community to advance drug discovery and development.


AstraZeneca is also looking at AZD1390’s ability to inhibit ATM-dependent signaling and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), a process that makes cancer cells more susceptible to radiation therapy. DNA damage, such as DSBs in the genome, which happen in a number of common cancers and also after spinal cord injury, triggers the DNA Damage Response system (DDR).

 

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