Brain Damage Newsroom

Vaccine Thwarts the Tangles of Alzheimer’s

NEW YORK, NY - A new study by NYU Medical Center researchers shows for the first time that the immune system can combat the pathological form of tau protein, a key protein implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers, led by Einar Sigurdsson Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pathology at New York University School of Medicine, created a vaccine in mice that suppresses aggregates of tau. The protein accumulates into harmful tangles in the memory center of the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

The vaccine successfully slowed the deterioration of motor abilities produced by excessive amounts of tau in the central nervous system of mice, according to the study published in the August 22, 2007 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Dr. Sigurdsson plans to conduct follow-up studies using mice that slowly develop tangles and cognitive impairments without movement problems.

The studyused mice that were genetically engineered to produce abnormal tau proteins early in life. These became entangled in several regions of the central nervous system. The resulting loss of motor coordination was significantly reduced in those immunized with a specific piece of the detrimental tau protein. By producing antibodies that could enter the brain and bind to irregular tau, the immune system prevented their harmful aggregation and associated behavioral impairments.

“This approach may have extensive therapeutic implications because you can specifically target the problematic protein,” said Dr. Sigurdsson.  “Tau aggregates are inside the cell, making it especially difficult to develop a therapy to target and clear them from the cell.”
Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to affect five million Americans. While treatments exist that may modestly alleviate its symptoms, none delay or prevent the onset of the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.