Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) said it completed an additional independent study in partnership with a research group at the University of Queensland, to investigate the acute effects of its NUZ-001 drug candidate on the survival of mouse NSC-34 motor neurons following exposure to TDP-43 aggregates and link any changes in viability to enhanced autophagy, according to a Friday Australian bourse filing.

Preliminary data suggests that NUZ-001 had a small but significant effect on TDP-43-mediated cell death in the motor neuron cell line. However, despite enhancing survival, acute treatment with NUZ-001 showed no effect on autophagy markers.

Autophagy is a critical process for maintaining neural homeostasis, which is recognized as a key therapeutic target in neurodegenerative diseases, the filing said.

Researchers treated NSC-34 cells with various concentrations of the drug candidate and compared it to Rapamycin, an autophagy activator over four hours.

They analyzed key markers of autophagy activation using immunoblotting techniques, while cell viability assays were performed to further determine if NUZ-001 promoted survival.

Its shares fell 8% on market close on Friday.