Vaccine for Alzheimer ’s Disease - New Approaches, New Hope

Current state of the science and what you need to know.

 Art by Basia P, 2015

Alzheimer’s is caused when amyloid  beta (Αβ)  and tau proteins clump together in the brain – known as plaques and tangles respectively – and cause damage to cells. Current treatments for Alzheimer’s disease focus on improving the symptoms, but few are able to slow the progression of the condition.

Basia P, 2016

Scientists have developed a novel form of vaccine targeting amyloid-beta and tau protein triggering Alzheimer’s disease.

"Essentially what we have designed is a vaccine that makes the immune system produce antibodies and those antibodies act like tow trucks so they come to your driveway, they latch on to the breakdown protein or car and they pull it out of the driveway,” said Flinders University medicine professor Nikolai Petrovsky, ABC News reported.

In animal studies, the antibodies work best to block a-beta before the subjects have developed the disease. Interestingly, the antibodies are effective at reversing the buildup of tau proteins once the disease has already progressed. At this moment, the vaccine is still not yet ready for human trials, but according to Petrovsky, “given the demand for a vaccine, if we show it is successful in the early stages we expect this will be pulled through and turned into product very, very quickly.”

Read more:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/alzheimers-disease-tau-protein-vaccine-391883

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2532

http://www.nextavenue.org/alzheimers-vaccine-horizon/

https://alzheimersnewstoday.com/2016/07/18/progress-alzheimers-vaccine-preclinical-tests/