SENS5 - Clearance of Pathological Tau Protein with Immunotherapy

© SENS Foundation 2011 - http://www.sens.org

The Fifth SENS conference - Einar Sigurdsson

Author:
E. M. Sigurdsson
New York University School of Medicine

One of the perils of aging is the accumulation of various protein/peptide aggregates throughout the body, some of which are associated with toxicity. In several age-related disorders, aggregates of certain amino acid sequences are much more prominent than under normal conditions, and define the disease. Harnessing the immune system has emerged in recent years as a promising approach to treat these conditions. My laboratory has worked in this field targeting the amyloid-β peptide, the prion protein, the tau protein, and more recently the islet amyloid polypeptide. The focus of my talk will be on our tau immunotherapy studies. We have shown in tangle mouse models that active or passive immunizations clear pathological tau aggregates from the brain with associated functional benefits (Asuni, A. et al., J. Neurosci., 2007; Boutajangout A. et al., J. Neurosci., 2010, and Boutajangout A. et al., J. Neurochem., 2011). Importantly, these include a complete prevention of cognitive deficits in three different tests. The feasibility of targeting tau aggregates by these means has now been confirmed by several groups. We are currently assessing if its efficacy of clearance and safety depend on which region of the tau protein is being targeted. We are as well clarifying the mode of action of this very promising approach, which likely involves both intra- and extracellular pathways.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Tau
• Tangles
• Immunotherapy
• Behavior
• Amyloid
• Aubrey De Grey
• Senescence
• Rejuvenation
• Aging
• Alzheimer's
• Alzheimer's Disease