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Cyclosporin Protects Brain Mitochondria at the 33rd Annual Society
for Neuroscience Meeting Business Editors/Biotechnology Writers ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2003--Maas BiolAB LLC and
NeuroPharma AB Director of Research Eskil Elmer M.D., Ph.D., and research
scientists Magnus Hansson M.D. and Roland Mansson M.D. exhibited and co-authored
3 poster presentations at the annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting
in New Orleans, Louisiana. Two of the presentations were the result of
research stemming from Maas BiolAB/NeuroPharma's expertise in mitochondrial
neuroprotectants. The research revealed that brain mitochondria are specifically
and powerfully protected by cyclosporins, through cyclosporins' unique
ability to block the formation of the mitochondrial permeability transition
pore or "megapore". Blocking this mitochondrial megapore prevents
the release of mitochondrial apoptosis factors that activate caspases
and turn on neuron suicide genes. Cyclosporins protect damaged neurons
from dying, and have been shown to be potent neuroprotectants in models
of acute brain attack including stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord
injury, and also the chronic neurodegenerative diseases of Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's, Huntington's and ALS. The second presentation "Minocycline does not inhibit calcium-induced mitochondrial permeability transition" analyzed minocycline, a putative neuroprotectant drug, and found it not to be effective via the mitochondria "megapore". Minocycline was assessed using the rapid and reliable screening techniques developed by Maas/NeuroPharma scientists to evaluate series of novel potential mitochondrial neuroprotectants. Maas BiolAB LLC is a privately held Swedish-American neuropharmaceutical
corporation with world patents for cyclosporin neuroprotection based in
Albuquerque, NM, USA. Maas BiolAB is developing cyclosporin drugs for
the neurodegenerative diseases of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's
and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. NeuroPharma AB is a Maas corporate
partner developing NeuroSTAT(TM), a proprietary, non-toxic intravenous
cyclosporin product for traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and
stroke. NeuroPharma AB is in the Scandinavian Medicon Valley biotechnology
center of Lund, Sweden, with close ties to the Wallenberg Neuroscience
Center at Lund University. For more information please visit www.maasbiolab.com. Maas BiolAB, LLC NeuroPharma AB |