A potential target for Alzheimer's treatment? Researchers unearth new immune response pathway
Most Alzheimer’s drugs, including Biogen’s aducanumab (Aduhelm) and Eli Lilly’s donanemab, target amyloid plaques, misfolded protein clumps that build up in the brain, which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. However, researchers from Weill Cornell have uncovered an alternate immune response pathway that could be a potential target for new therapies.
In addition to amyloid plaques, Alzheimer’s patients also experience the buildup of tau proteins inside their neurons. In healthy neurons, tau proteins help stabilize microtubules that transport neurotransmitters from one end of the neuron to the other. However, in Alzheimer’s patients, tau proteins stick together and form tangles in the neurons that block that transport process.
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