Development of muscle-based cannabinoid therapies for experimental amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Scientic Supervisor / Contact Person
Name and Surname
Javier Fernández-Ruiz
ORCID (link)
Researcher ID (link)
Other ID (link)
Localization & Research Area
Faculty / Institute
Institute of Neurochemistry Research
Department
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine
Research Area
Life Sciences (LIF)
MSCA & ERC experience
Research group / research team hosted any MSCA fellow?
No
Research group / research team have any ERC beneficiaries?
No
Research Team & Research Topic
Research Team / Research Group Name (if any)
Neurodegenerative disorders: development of cannabinoid-based therapies
Website of the Research team / Research Group / Department
Brief description of the Research Team / Research Group / Department
The group is located at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University in Madrid, Spain. The PI is a PhD in Biochemistry obtained in 1986 in the Complutense University and Full Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Faculty of Medicine) since 2007. Together with his teaching activities in the areas of Neurochemistry and Neurobiology, both in Degree and Master, he has been working during the last 44 years in different diseases of the Central Nervous System, having authored 269 research articles and 51 review articles in international journals. Also 45 chapters in national and international books and 8 international patents. He has supervised 24 doctoral thesis along 35 years and given lectures at different national and international universities and research centers, as well as numerous presentations at national and international congresses. He is currently the Principal Investigator of the “Cannabinoids and Neurological Disorders” research group at the Complutense University, and also at two cooperative networks of excellence research in Spain: CIBERNED and IRYCIS. The main activity of this group is the study of the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in several neurological diseases, mainly neurodegenerative, activity addressed to the design, synthesis and biological characterization of novel cannabinoids with neuroprotective profile, and to test their therapeutic efficacy at preclinical and clinical levels. They have also conducted research addressed to explore the contribution of endocannabinoid dysregulations in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders. They are collaborating with several national and international groups, and pharmaceutical companies. He has participated in numerous research projects, acting as PI in many of them, including 8 research contracts with pharma companies. He has been a member, representing the UCM, in the IRYCIS Governor Committee (2011-2017), a member in the Scientific Advisor Committee of the pharma companies VivaCell Biotechnology-Spain and Linneo Health SL, and a member of the Editorial Board in the British Journal of Pharmacology (up to 2023). He has been President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) (2002-2003) and member of its Executive Committee (2001-2004), as well as a founding member of the Spanish Cannabinoid Research Society (SEIC) and member of its Executive Committee (2000-2013) serving as President during 2007-2011. He has received the IACM Special Award in 2019 and the ICRS Mechoulam Award (for outstanding contributions to the field of cannabinoid research) in 2021.
Research lines / projects proposed
At present, the group is interested in the development of cannabinoid-based therapies for neurodegenerative disorders, for which it collaborates with different groups of Medicinal Chemistry or with pharmaceutical companies working in the development of cannabinoid-based medicines (e.g., Jazz Pharmaceuticals (formerly GW Pharma), Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals, VivaCell Biotechnology Spain, ANKAR Pharma, Symrise, Roche Pharma, Pharmactive Biotech Products, and Oils4Cure). The group is contributing in these collaborations with the biological characterization of phytocannabinoids and derivatives, as well as of new cannabinoid compounds, in relation with the identification of their pharmacological targets (mainly their activity at CB1/CB2 receptors but also GPR55 receptors), possible combinations of compounds and pharmacological synergies, biological activity in in vitro models, and therapeutic effects in in vivo models of different neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson"s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia, and autosomal-dominant cerebellar ataxias. They have recently extended this interest to Dravet syndrome and other infantile epileptic encephalopathies. The group is particularly interested in developing disease-modifying cannabinoid-based therapies for these disorders, but also in the investigation of the role of the signaling system, the so-called endocannabinoid system, which contains the different targets for these therapies, in the pathogenesis of these disorders. These studies have progressed up to the development of clinical trials in some disorders (e.g. Huntington"s disease), pending of this clinical validation after an intense and positive preclinical work (e.g. Parkinson"s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or in the stage of preclinical validation (e.g. frontotemporal dementia, autosomal-dominant cerebellar ataxias, Dravet syndrome). They are now interested in exploring the role of the muscle compartment in the development of ALS, as well to investigate the contribution of the muscle endocannabinoid system in this disease from pathogenic and therapeutic views. This would be the major objective of a possible MSCA application
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Silvia Ortega-Gutierrez
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Chemistry (CHE), Life Sciences (LIF)
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Faculty of Chemical Science