University of Denver Spring 2026

PUBLIC GOOD

Hope in Every Molecule Sunil Kumar and his team are developing synthetic protein mimetics that may slow or halt neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, offering patients and families a glimpse of a brighter future. By 2050, as many as 13

By Nika Anschuetz

They can provide some relief, improving memory and daily function, yet they do not halt or slow the progression of the disease. One type is based on small molecules, and the other uses antibodies. Developing any drug for the brain is especially challenging because it needs to cross the blood-brain barrier. Small molecules can easily cross that barrier, but they need to be able to target specific proteins. Antibodies, on the other hand, can be more targeted, but they often can’t cross the blood-brain barrier. For example, if a drug is administered at 1 milligram per day but only ~0.1-1% of it reaches the brain, it requires a much higher dose to be effective—and that would likely cause more side effects.

million Americans could be living with Alzheimer’s disease—nearly twice the number who cope with it today. The projection looms over researchers, clinicians, and families as neurodegenerative diseases tighten their grip on society. For many, 2050 feels like a lifetime away,

but for Sunil Kumar, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, it feels much closer—and therefore much more urgent. In 2019, he launched the Kumar Lab at DU with an ambitious goal: to develop druglike molecules to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington’s disease. Six years later, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Parkinson’s Foundation, the American Parkinson Disease Association, and others, Kumar and his team are closing in on a potential disease-modifying treatment. The current treatments Proteins regulate every function in our body. We rely on protein-protein interactions—proteins binding together to do a job. For people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, these interactions go awry. Instead of functioning properly, certain proteins misfold and begin to clump together. “They function in two toxic ways,” Kumar says. “They build physical barriers between neurons. They can no longer talk to each other. Over time, they start killing neurons.” As brain cells start to die in large quantities, the brain begins to shrink. Memory loss—the primary symptom of Alzheimer’s disease—occurs because those protein clumps block key pathways. Currently, there are two types of drugs on the market to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but their effects are limited.

Ryan Dohoney, a PhD candidate in organic chemistry, is one of the students working in the Kumar Lab.

The Kumar Lab discovery Kumar and his team have developed and tested a new technology that they say is the best of both worlds. “We developed a platform based on synthetic protein mimetics,” Kumar says. “These molecules are small enough to reach the brain, but they can achieve the kind of specificity we typically associate with antibodies.” By mimicking the surface features of proteins, these artificial molecules are designed to target and

12

UNIVERSITY OF DENVER MAGAZINE | SPRING 2026