Bioage Labs Inc. has nominated BGE-102 as a development candidate. The orally available, small-molecule NLRP3 inhibitor has high potency and high brain penetration.

Atalanta Therapeutics Inc. has completed a $97 million series B financing to support its investigational RNA interference (RNAi) therapies for KCNT1-related epilepsy and Huntington’s disease toward IND filings this year and through clinical proof of concept.

The way the brain ages is not the same in women and men. A study in mice has observed differences in the expression of the maternal and paternal X chromosomes that could explain variation in brain aging between the sexes and a faster deterioration in some women. Another study has discovered different survival strategies in the microglial cells of females and males. Both studies highlight sex differences that could have implications for several age-related neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.

Lifearc has announced a collaboration with Neuropeutics Inc. to develop a new small molecule for the treatment of motor neuron disease (MND), or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Neuropeutics and Lifearc intend to develop a lead candidate therapeutic to prevent and reverse TDP-43 protein aggregation in MND/ALS.

Recent transcriptomic studies indicated a connection between neuroinflammation, changes in neuroimmune responses, and the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The microglial calcium-binding protein A9 (S100A9) showed increased circulating levels in young adults, positively correlating with autistic severity.

Researchers from Guangzhou Medical University and affiliated organizations presented data from a study that aimed to investigate the disease-causing mechanism of EP400, a gene that encodes the E1A binding protein p400, which is a core catalytic ATPase subunit of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes.