Neurizon Therapeutics Limited Announces Results from an Additional Independent Study Carried Out in Partnership with the University of Queensland

Neurizon Therapeutics Limited announced results from an additional independent study carried out in partnership with Professor Trent Woodruff and Dr John Lee's research group at The University of Queensland ("UQ"). Mr. Austin Read will present a poster entitled " Investigating the Pharmacological Activity of NUZ-001 on Autophagy in the NSC-34 Motor Neuron Cell Line" at the AD/PD 2025 Advances in Sciences & Therapy conference on 4-5 April (local time). AD/PD is the leading international conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and related neurological disorders held in Vienna, Austria between 1 and 5 April.

The aim of the study was to investigate the acute effects of NUZ-002 on the survival of mouse NSC-34 motor neurons following exposure to TDP-43 aggregates and link any changes in viability to enhanced autophagy. Autophagy is a critical process for maintaining neural homeostasis, which is increasingly recognised as a key therapeutic target in neurodegenerative diseases, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). mouse NSC-34 motor neuron cells are a lab-grown model of motor neurons used to study ALS.

The aggregation of TDP-43 is the key underlying pathological feature in 97% of ALS cases. UQ researchers treated NSC-34 cells with various concentrations of NUZ-001 (1 uM, 10 uM and 50 uM) and compared it to Rapamycin, a known autophagy activator over a 24-hour period. Key markers of autophagy activation, LC3-II and Beclin-1 were then analysed using immunoblotting techniques, while cell viability assays were performed to further determine if NUZ-001 promoted survival.

Preliminary data suggest that NUZ-001 had a small but significant effect on TDP-43-mediated cell death in the mouse MSC-34 motor neuron cell line. The University currently has more than 3,400 active research projects, with many seeking to address the national and global challenges of climate change and energy transition, food and water security, biodiversity conservation, defence and space, minerals and resources, and disease prevention and treatment.