Adapted from Weill Cornell Medical College
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have gotten much closer to understanding how immune-based therapies can treat Alzheimer's disease—by studying how antibodies go inside brain cells to reduce levels of Alzheimer's-linked amyloid peptides that form plaques between neurons.
"This internalization and activity of the antibody within the cell was a big surprise and something we really haven't appreciated in neurological medicine. It gives us new hope for the use of immunotherapy against Alzheimer's, while casting intriguing new light on other disease processes," says senior author Dr. Gunnar Gouras, associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College and associate attending neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
His team's study will appear as a prestigious "paper of the week" in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and was published in the May 1, 2007 online edition of the journal.
What is clear from the study is that immune-based therapy does work to rid brain cells of amyloid—giving new impetus to the search for a safe, effective Alzheimer's vaccine.
"A cure isn't likely as close as we are hoping for" Dr. Gouras cautions, "and new roadblocks to a successful vaccine might arise. But as we better understand how immunotherapy is working, we can better meet those roadblocks head-on."
Alzheimer’s Disease Research, a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation is proud to have funded Dr. Gouras for this very important work.