Collaboration with KU Leuven, [led by global leader Peter Vangheluwe , PhD, a longstanding partner of The Michael J. Fox Foundation] will leverage Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) and other advanced AI technologies to design and rapidly screen potential new drug compounds PALO ALTO, Calif. , Oct.
29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SandboxAQ announced today that The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) has selected the company's AI platform to accelerate the identification of compounds that activate a gene linked to Parkinson's disease (PD). SandboxAQ's team of computational chemists and machine learning experts will collaborate with the Vangheluwe lab and CD3 at Belgium -based KU Leuven to identify activators for ATP10B.
Peter Vangheluwe is a global leader in lysosomal transporters that are implicated in Parkinson's disease, such as ATP13A2 and ATP10B . As a long-standing MJFF partner, the Vangheluwe lab has helped to better understand the underlying mechanisms of ATP13A2 and ATP10B dysfunction in Parkinson's disease and pioneered drug discovery efforts on ATP13A2. ATP10B is a novel candidate risk gene for PD encoding a sphingolipid-transporting ATPase involved in neuronal lipid homeostasis.
As a member of the P4-ATPase family, it flips glucosylceramide across the lysosomal membrane, maintaining essential cellular functions. Despite its potential as a therapeutic target, drug discovery efforts face challenges due to ATP10B's multiunit structural complexity, poor ex.