Parkinson's disease biomarker: a patent evaluation of WO2013153386

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder resultant from the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. There is an urgent need for effective biomarkers that can be used in the early diagnosis of PD. Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a significant role in PD pathology, which has led to the evaluation of mitophagy markers, PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1), and PARKIN as possible biomarkers for the early diagnosis of PD.

The current patent describes the use of phosphorylation of PINK1 and PARKIN as a diagnostic measure. Specifically, Ser65 on PARKIN, which is phosphorylated by PINK1, and the autophosphorylation of PINK1 at Thr257 are described.

This patent describes a much needed methodology that can easily be adapted in the clinical setting by which a biological sample, such as serum or cerebrospinal fluid, is collected and analyzed for the phosphorylation markers. Here, the phosphorylation activity seen in PINK1 and PARKIN can differentiate between age-matched controls and PD patients. This patent presents a novel diagnostic measure in early PD, as well as determines which medications would have a beneficial effect on a patient's disease progression.