Like many other tools, sometimes prescription drugs can be used for more than one purpose. University of Waterloo scientists and industry partner Cyclica discovered that a commonly known antidepressant may be useful in fighting some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
During the summer of 2014, researchers at the Faculty of Science’s School of Pharmacy were looking into whether a group of drugs called selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — normally used as anti-depressants — could be used to treat Alzheimer's.
Through a Mitacs Accelerate grant, the researchers partnered with Cyclica, a company specializing in using computers to predict all effects of new medicines.
“Our approach,” says Stephen MacKinnon, a Structural Bioinformatician at Cyclica, “was to use our computers to run models of all of the drugs being studied, testing them against different kinds of proteins. We looked at them from a different perspective: not what they were designed to do, but rather what they can do.”
Gary Tin, a specialist in the organic and synthetic development of drugs, was chosen to take part in the project. Tin, a graduate student in Dr. Praveen Nekkar Rao’s lab at the time, acted as a bridge between scientists at the university and Cyclica.
The theory was that SSRIs might block a protein called Amyloid beta that builds-up in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and is believed to cause damage. We wanted to see if this was true, and how the SSRIs would work. With Cyclica’s help, we could get an idea of the effects of the drugs, and compare that data to what we’d discovered ourselves in the university lab.
In the end, the team discovered one of the anti-depressants, Prozac, has the most potential of the SSRIs to block Amyloid beta and slow-down the progression of Alzheimer's.
It’s still in the very early stages, but this research opens the doors to the possibility of more testing of antidepressants as a means of fighting Alzheimer's. It’s also good for healthcare providers and drug companies to be able to look at repurposing existing drugs, instead of needing years to develop new ones.
Stephen notes that Cyclica benefitted from participating in an Accelerate project as well.
“This research let us fine-tune our systems, and learn a lot about our how they work. Gary’s knowledge in organic chemistry was a good addition to our team, and he was able to help us with other projects. Bringing someone in through Mitacs gave us a glimpse of what we do from a different perspective.”
Tin recently graduated this past June with a Master’s of Science in Pharmacy. He also completed his Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry in 2012 from the University of Waterloo.