A research team of physicians and scientists at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center has discovered naturally occurring antibodies in human blood that possibly defend against Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative illnesses.
The antibodies zero in on specific types of proteins that are toxic to brain cells. The antibodies target masses of beta amyloid proteins called “oligomers,” while ignoring single-molecule forms of the very same proteins. These “oligomers” have the potential to grow into insoluble “fibrils” that cluster around brain cells, and are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
Lead researcher Dr. Norman Relkin said the team has been testing Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG), which is an antibody-based immunotherapy, as a possible new treatment for Alzheimer’s. Laboratory studies confirmed that IVIG bound very little of the single-molecule protein (“monomers”) while it indeed bound up the aggregate form (“oligomers”).
The antibodies apparently recognize the aggregate form by its shape. “That was a surprise, because most antibodies work by recognizing some aspect of the chemical structure of their target — not their shape,” said study co-author Dr. Paul Szabo. “That means that even though beta amyloid monomers and oligomers have the same fundamental chemical makeup, human anti-oligomer antibodies can distinguish between them. The antibodies recognize a particular shape that proteins assume only when they become these toxic aggregates.”
Dr. Relkin said the antibodies can also recognize other unhealthy forms of proteins such as those associated with Parkinson’s, Lewy body dementia, and the human form of “Mad Cow” disease, as well as other illness-causing forms of proteins. While the scientific findings are clear, the relationship of the findings to actual benefits to patients requires much more study, the team concluded. However, experts say that this discovery is a big step forward in our understanding of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
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