Anti-Tau Antibody Reverses Cognitive and Motor Deficits in Animal Model

[metacognito]

University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston: Scientists "have successfully engineered an anti-tau antibody that only targets tau oligomer aggregates of the protein. The antibody was powerful enough to reverse severe cognitive and motor symptoms in an alpha-synuclein animal model, they reported here on Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting.

"The researchers said the strategy could be used to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD), as well as other neurodegenerative conditions.

"[Rakez Kayed, PhD] and colleagues injected seven-month-old mice overexpressing the mutated alpha-synuclein with either a tau oligomer-specific antibody (TOMA), an antibody targeting all forms of tau, or a control (immunoglobulin G) antibody. Healthy (wild-type) mice were injected with saline. Two weeks later, they conducted a battery of tests assessing cognitive and motor function, and found that the severe phenotype (motor and cognitive deficits) were reversed in the mice that had received TOMA."

(nice to know the 'race for a cure' is alive and well ;P )

journals.lww.com/neurotoday...

[michaela13]

WHEN???

[zawy in reply to michaela13]

Probably not in our lifetime. Like metacognito said at the end of the post "nice to know the 'race for a cure' is alive and well ;P". This research is may not be "one of the ones" that we might someday use, but it is another example of several different routes that are giving more hope than we have seen in the past. It's interesting because it not a nutrient or drug that is busting up the mal-formed a-syn complex, but a different idea. The other major hope is growing new neurons from stem cells by injection or nano-like delivery or super pills of another sort. The combination of stopping a-syn problems and having new neurons would be a huge reversal of symptoms worthy of being called a cure, despite most damage not being repaired, just the catastrophic stuff.

[JohnPepper]

Hi Meta. This sound to be good news. I wonder how they test the cognitive function of mice?

John