miRNAs as novel therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease: a patent evaluation of WO2014018650

Introduction: Parkinson’s disease (PD) requires novel means for early-stage recognition, enabling early therapeutic approaches. Since microRNAs (miRNAs) are important components of the gene regulatory networks in neurodegenerative diseases, there is huge effort to find correlation between expression patterns of miRNAs and disease. Areas covered: The current application claims the use of miRNA signatures to diagnose and treat PD also in early nonsymptomatic stages. Therefore, samples from putamen and CSF were collected to identify miRNA signatures in PD. Resulting microarrays provide expression patterns of miRNAs that were highly predictive for different stages of PD pathology. Different kits are provided to determine miRNA signatures and to classify the individual stage of disease. Furthermore, an oligonucleotide is suggested, with the aim to downregulate an miRNA, predicted to play a causal role in the development of PD pathology. Expert opinion: The asymptomatic early phase in PD is associated with specific changes in miRNA expression patterns. However, further work is required to assess the real diagnostic and therapeutic potential of this application’s findings. Targeting individual miRNAs is a strategy worth to be investigated, but many technical issues still need to be addressed.