Current Approaches and Tools Used in Drug Development against Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the death of nerve cells in the substantia nigra of the brain. The treatment options for this disease are very limited as currently the treatment is mainly symptomatic, and the available drugs are not able to completely stop the progression of the disease but only to slow it down. There is still a need to search for new compounds with the most optimal pharmacological profile that would stop the rapidly progressing disease. An increasing understanding of Parkinson’s pathogenesis and the discovery of new molecular targets pave the way to develop new therapeutic agents. The use and selection of appropriate cell and animal models that better reflect pathogenic changes in the brain is a key aspect of the research. In addition, computer-assisted drug design methods are a promising approach to developing effective compounds with potential therapeutic effects. In light of the above, in this review, we present current approaches for developing new drugs for Parkinson’s disease.