Study found improved cognitive function in animal model of Alzheimer’s disease
The New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) today announced the publication of promising results by a multi-institute team, including researchers from OPWDD’s Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (IBR), of a vaccine against the predominant brain lesions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults, and it occurs more frequently, and at an earlier age, in people with Down syndrome than in the general population.
The team’s study was led by the State University of New York at Buffalo. IBR’s research team included Chunling Dai, MD, PhD, and Yunn Chyn Tung, MS, of the Department of Neurochemistry. Other organizations involved in the study were biopharmaceutical company POP Biotechnologies, Buffalo, NY; McGill University, Canada; the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, and Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, both in Japan; and Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Korea.
The accumulation in the brain of extracellular senile plaques comprising amyloid-β (Aβ) and of neurofibrillary tangles comprising hyperphosphorylated tau protein is the main characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, Aβ and hyperphosphorylated tau protein are targets for potential Alzheimer’s disease treatments. Most people with Down syndrome show some signs of this Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology by 40 years of age.
The IBR scientists worked together with other co-authors to design this novel vaccine that is potentially more effective than other Alzheimer’s disease vaccines tested so far. They tested its effects in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease at IBR. Results showed that administration of the vaccine to the mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease on a preventative dosing schedule inhibited tau and amyloid pathologies and prevented or reduced the development of cognitive impairment.
The study’s authors believe that therapies based on formulations of multiple targets of Aβ and tau molecules warrant further study for treating early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. These findings were published in the article, “A pentavalent peptide vaccine elicits Aβ and tau antibodies with prophylactic activity in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model,” in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
“We have seen that vaccines can change the game in terms of warding off life-altering disease and this research could have a profound impact, particularly for people with Down syndrome,” said Office for People With Developmental Disabilities Acting Commissioner Willow Baer. “I am grateful for my team at IBR who participated in this important study and I look forward to future updates on its validity and success.”
“The results of this collaborative study are very promising,” said Dr. Jill Pettinger, Deputy Commissioner for Statewide Services at OPWDD. “They will make it possible for further studies to be conducted that may eventually lead to the development of vaccines against early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.”
This study was funded in part by OPWDD and the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging.
About OPWDD and IBR:
The Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (IBR) is the research arm of the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). IBR also provides clinical services and conducts educational programs. OPWDD is responsible for coordinating services for New Yorkers with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorders, Prader-Willi syndrome, and other neurological impairments.
