Washington, Oct 02 : Emory University researchers have discovered a compound in tree bark that mimics the chemical reactions of a naturally occurring molecule in the brain responsible for stimulating neuronal cell signalling.

The tree bark compound, known as gambogic amide, behaves much like Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), a molecule found in the brain.

Neuronal cell signalling plays a crucial role in the growth, plasticity and survival of brain cells.

NGF binds to TrkA, a neuronal receptor, and activates neuronal signalling. It is known that the loss of TrkA density correlates with neuronal atrophy and severe cognitive impairment such as that associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers believe that since gambogic amide binds to TrKA and activates neuronal signalling, it may also have potential as a therapeutic treatment in people affected by neurodegenerative disease, such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and peripheral diabetic neuropathies.

"Humans actually have a naturally occurring molecule in the body, Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), which stimulates the growth and differentiation of certain types of nerve cells. However, NGF has poor pharmocokinetics and bio availability when synthetically manufactured and used therapeutically, and it is also expensive to produce," Dr Keqiang Ye, PhD, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine said.

"Previous research had focused on copying the chemical structure of NGF, but the cyclopeptide mimetics are not potent enough to use as a therapeutic agent. Instead, we decided that we needed to identify a more robust molecule that would pharmacologically mimic NGF's effect on brain cells by binding to TrkA. What we came up with was gambogic amide," he added.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (With inputs from ANI)