SHARKS could hold the key to beating Parkinson’s disease, scientists hope – and this is how

SHARKS could hold the key to treating devastating conditions like Parkinson’s disease, a study found.

Researchers say a compound produced by the predators can combat the build-up of harmful proteins responsible for the tremor-causing illness.

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They have now created a synthetic steroid to mimic the chemical produced by spiny dogfish - a member of the shark family that has venomous spines on its back.

Tests in animals and human cells showed the steroid, called squalamine, can break apart the toxic clumps of protein that form in the nerve cells of people suffering from Parkinson’s.

Professor Christopher Dobson, from the University of Cambridge, said the steroid could be used to develop new treatments for patients.

He added: “It is possible that a drug treating at least some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease could be developed from squalamine

“We might be able to use it to make improvements to patients’ lives, while also studying other compounds with the aim of developing a more powerful treatment in the future.”

It is possible that a drug treating at least some of the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease could be developed from squalamine

Professor Christopher DobsonUniversity of Cambridge

The steroid was first discovered in the spiny dogfish in the 1990s and scientists developed a technique to make a similar steroid in the laboratory that did not need to be purified from sharks.

Professor Dobson and his colleagues tested it in nematode worms that had been genetically modified to suffer from a build-up of the toxic protein that causes Parkinson’s disease.

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When the worms were fed the steroid, the sticky clumps disappeared from their cells, according to the study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tests in the laboratory also showed the steroid could stop the toxic protein from sticking to the outside of human nerve cells.

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Professor Michele Vendruscolo, also from the University of Cambridge, said: “If there are going to be ways to beat the disease, it seems likely that this is one that may work.”

Clinical trials are now planned in human patients.