Optical imaging and biosimulation platforms
to speed CNS drug

Québec: Sébastien Blais-Ouellette (Photon Etc.) and Paul De Koninck (Université Laval et Centre de Neurophotonique)
Alsace: Serge Bischoff (Rhenovia Pharma)

$700,000 over 3 years (for the research being performed in Québec)

Fundamental mechanisms underlying diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, schizophrenia, depression or autism remain poorly understood, partly due to a lack of appropriate methods for investigating the complex CNS molecular processes. The critical sites in the brain that are particularly challenging to reach are the billions of tiny sites of neuronal connections: the micron scale synapses. This limitation explains in part the relative poor efficacy of existing treatments and the failure to discover innovative treatments for CNS diseases in the past decade.

This proposal is aimed at developing new tools to allow a better understanding of neurotransmitter receptor dynamics and protein-protein interactions at the synapse, in response to drug candidates.Two highly innovative and complementary platforms will be developed:
1) a multiplexed optical imaging platform for the observation of multiple cellular events simultaneously, based on Photon etc. highly sensitive hyperspectral detection technology, capable of broad wavelengths (400-2500 nm) coverage for cellular imaging, and
2) an in silico biosimulation platform to model and predict drug effects at different levels of neuronal signaling, based on Rhenovia’s powerful and unique program capable of taking into account multiple levels of analyses of brain functions. The experimental validation will be performed on cell lines and neuronal cultures, under the exposure to various drugs.

The combination of these platforms will provide unique guidelines for the development of new drug candidates targeting CNS disorders. Impact on the drug discovery process