Intramembranous fragment of amyloid-beta: A potential immunogen for Alzheimer's disease immunotherapy.

Abstract

Immunotherapy holds great promise for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but meningoencephalitis observed in the first AD vaccination trial, which accompanied T-lymphocytic infiltration, needs to be overcome. This study was aimed to investigate alternative approaches for a safer vaccine to treat AD. We used intramembranous fragment of amyloid-beta (IF-Abeta) to immunize Kunming mice for up to 2.5 months and then evaluated the immunization efficacy and potential adverse effects. Immunization of mice with IF-Abeta plus Freund's adjuvant resulted in moderate levels of Abeta antibodies (IgG), and the anti-sera were able to neutralize Abeta1-42-neurotoxicity in cultured primary cortical neurons. IF-Abeta itself did not show neurotoxicity, and immunization with IF-Abeta did not cause behavioral deficits in Morris water maze or any abnormalities by histological examinations of major organs including the brain. We conclude that vaccination with IF-Abeta may be a potentially safe and effective treatment for AD.

• Authors: Songjiang Zhang, Lixiang Wu, Fayi Liu, Bosheng Huang, Dong Huang, Lijuan Yang, Zhihong Peng
• Journal: Neurochemical research (Neurochem Res) Vol. 34 Issue 11 Pg. 1889-95 (Nov 2009) ISSN: 1573-6903 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 19347579 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Amyloid beta-Peptides
• Immune Sera
• Immunoglobulin G
• Peptide Fragments
• amyloid beta-protein (1-42)

Topics

• Alzheimer Disease (immunology, therapy)
• Amyloid beta-Peptides (immunology, toxicity)
• Animals
• Antibody Formation
• Cells, Cultured
• Cerebral Cortex (drug effects, pathology)
• Immune Sera
• Immunoglobulin G (blood)
• Immunotherapy
• Kidney (drug effects, pathology)
• Liver (drug effects, pathology)
• Male
• Maze Learning (drug effects)
• Memory (drug effects)
• Mice
• Neurons (drug effects, pathology)
• Peptide Fragments (adverse effects, immunology, toxicity)
• Spleen (drug effects, pathology)