Improving slow wave sleep and glymphatic flow in dementia

AstronauTx是一家生物技术公司，专注于开发治疗阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病等神经退行性疾病的新药。这些疾病给患者、护理人员和整个社会带来巨大负担。随着人口老龄化，这一社会成本将在未来10年翻一番。目前对这些疾病的治疗大多是症状性的，其效果温和且短暂。首个治疗阿尔茨海默病的药物输注最近在美国获得批准。这些治疗方法效果一般，需要广泛监测，并有潜在的有害副作用。此外，它们只处理在疾病中被破坏的一种蛋白质。对于治疗神经退行性疾病的症状及其进展的更有效的药物来说，这是一个巨大的机会。在过去十年中，在理解神经退行性疾病的生物学方面的重大突破之一是发现了一种清除大脑中有毒蛋白质积聚的机制。这个过程被称为类淋巴流动，它发生在睡眠周期的特定部分。慢波睡眠是一种深度的恢复性睡眠，在此期间大脑处理记忆并清除积累的废物。睡眠中断是神经退行性疾病发展的危险因素，也是这些疾病本身的症状。慢波睡眠的缺失会导致记忆问题和心理问题。它还扰乱了清除大脑有毒废物所需的淋巴清除，使疾病恶化。一种改善慢波睡眠的药物应该既能改善症状，又能减缓疾病进展。不幸的是，目前市面上没有一种安眠药对慢波睡眠有任何作用——它们使人们更快入睡，但不影响在酣睡的慢波睡眠阶段发生的重要过程。AstronauTx已经确定了一种独特而显著地增加慢波睡眠的新机制。Innovate UK的资金将在未来18个月内用于开发最佳候选药物，并评估其改善慢波睡眠的能力是否如预测的那样转化为改善淋巴流动和减缓神经变性。这项工作将与英国最优秀的科学家合作完成。这种新的、创新的神经退行性疾病治疗方法是建立在尖端科学的基础上的，而AstronauTx在这方面处于领先地位。在“创新英国”的资助下，我们可以推出一种全新的药物，造福数百万患者。

AstronauTx is a biotechnology company focussed on developing new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. These diseases carry a huge burden to patients, caregivers and society as a whole. With an aging population, this societal cost will double in the next 10 years. Current therapies for these diseases are mostly symptomatic and their effects are modest and short-lived. The first disease-modifying drug infusions for Alzheimer's disease have recently been approved in the US. The treatments are modestly effective, require extensive monitoring and have potentially harmful side-effects. Furthermore, they tackle only one of the proteins disrupted in the disease. There is a huge opportunity for more effective drugs that address both the symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases and their progression.One of the major breakthroughs in understanding the biology of neurodegenerative diseases over the last decade has been the discovery of a clearance mechanism for toxic protein build-up in the brain. This process is called glymphatic flow, and it happens during a particular part of the sleep cycle. Slow wave sleep is the deep, restorative sleep during which the brain processes memories and clears accumulated waste. Disrupted sleep is a risk factor for development of neurodegenerative diseases and a symptom of the diseases themselves. Loss of slow wave sleep leads to memory problems and psychological difficulties. It also disrupts the glymphatic clearance needed to wash toxic waste products out of the brain, making the disease worse. A drug which improves slow wave sleep should both improve symptoms and slow disease progression. Unfortunately, none of the sleeping drugs available now have any effect on slow wave sleep - they make people fall asleep faster but do not affect the important processes that occur during the slow wave sleep phase of a good night's sleep.AstronauTx have identified a new mechanism which uniquely and significantly increases slow wave sleep. Innovate UK funding will be used over the next 18 months to create the best drug candidate and assess whether its ability to improve slow wave sleep translates into improved glymphatic flow and slowed neurodegeneration as predicted. This will be done in partnership with the very best scientists in the UK. This new and innovative approach to neurodegeneration is built on cutting-edge science and AstronauTx leads the way. Together with Innovate UK funding, we could deliver an entirely new drug class to benefit millions of patients.