Molecules with broad pro-neurogenic and/or neuroprotective properties could have therapeutic applications in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. In two related studies published in PNAS, compounds from a series based on P7C3-an aminopropyl carbazole with neurogenic properties-have been found to have therapeutic effects in both mouse and worm models of Parkinson's disease (PD) and in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). P7C3 was originally discovered in a target-agnostic in vivo screen for compounds that are able to enhance neurogenesis in the hippocampus, where it acts by blocking the death of newborn cells. In the two more recent studies, the authors investigated whether these effects would extend to adult neurons outside the hippocampus-the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra that are affected in PD-and outside the brain, in this case the motor neurons in the spinal cord that are affected in ALS.
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