Voutilainen lab studies CDNF, MANF and other novel neurorestorative proteins in different degenerative diseases such as in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD).
We are investigating molecular pathways and trying to find neurorestorative treatments that promote recovery from the disease.
We use different in vitro and in vivo methods such as human motor neurons and dopamine neurons from ALS and Parkinson patient-derived iPS cells, as well as different transgenic and toxin-based animals models of ALS, PD and HD.
Our most promising current candidate for ALS and PD is cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor, CDNF, which promotes neuronal survival and growth. In 2017, CDNF moved on to clinical trials for PD in Finland and Sweden. It has the potential to form the basis of a treatment strategy which could stop disease progression.