Vaccine-depends Neurological Disease Solutions

The vaccines may eventually prove to be a beneficial treatment for neurodegenerative disorders. Creative Biolabs has the breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in the field of neuroscience research to develop customized research solutions that will drive projects efficiently and effectively.

Therapeutic Vaccines

Boosting autoimmunity is a possible remedy for neurodegenerative diseases. Because of the wide-ranging cross-reactivity and the common therapeutic target (microglia) within the diseased tissue, the same vaccination is likely to be effective in treating a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases.

Biomolecular Targets of Peptide-Based Vaccines for Neurodegenerative Diseases

• Biomolecular Targets of Vaccines

Aggressive immunotherapy/vaccine development for neurodegenerative diseases has focused on targeting pathological species Aβ, tau, and, to a lesser extent α-syn, as the abnormal aggregation of these biomolecules is believed to play an important role in the pathophysiology of the disease. Immunity to these peptides/proteins is expected to produce antibodies that facilitate clearance or prevent the formation of neurotoxic forms of parental targets.

• Targets of Vaccines

Aβ is the main component of AD amyloid plaques outside brain cells and exists in two main forms. Aβ is formed through proteolysis of APP by β- and γ-secretase. Tau is a microtubule-associated protein that is highly expressed in neurons, which some researchers perform Tau targeting therapies study. Filaments formed in vitro from the truncated Tau (297-391) have been reported to be similar at the macromolecular level to the paired helical filaments found in the brain of AD. Hyperphosphorylation and Tau truncation, are thought to lead to protein misfolding and subsequent formation of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are major markers of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases, especially frontotemporal lobar degeneration diseases. α-Syn is a presynaptic protein that has been reported to be involved in endosomal formation and vesicle release at the synapse. Accumulation of pathologic α-syn in the form of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites is a characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases, especially PD.

Fig.1 Schematic overview of Vaccination against tau and αSyn. (Braczynski, 2017)

Vaccines for Neurodegenerative Diseases

• Peptide-Based Vaccines

Peptide vaccines are based on specific B- (and T-) cell peptide epitopes. It is important to identify epitopes in disease-associated immunogens for the design of epitope-based vaccines. Compared with conventional vaccines, the synthesis of polypeptide vaccines is generally considered safe and effective. Several peptide vaccines are also available to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Among them, a novel Aβ synthetic peptide vaccine, which is prepared by using two N-terminal Aβ1-14 peptides. The administration of this peptide vaccine improves cognitive performance in patients with early Alzheimer's disease.

• Dendritic Cells (DCs)-Based Therapy

A growing number of cell-based vaccines have been developed for the treatment of cancers in recent years, mainly through the potentiation of specific DCs. The potential for DCs to stimulate the desired response, i.e., detection and clearance of protein aggregations, has prompted much research regarding their benefit in treating neurodegenerative disorders.

Fig.2 Blood-derived monocytes are incubated with GM-CSF and IL-4 and differentiated into immature DCs, which then undergo maturation. (Sabahi, 2021)

Vaccination therapies constitute potential treatment options for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease. Creative Biolabs is one of the international leaders in the provision of neuroscience research services to the pharmaceutical, and academic research industries. If you want to learn more detail about our in vitro and in vivo services, or would like to consult with our experts, please feel free to contact us.

References

1. Braczynski, A.K.; et al. Vaccination strategies in tauopathies and synucleinopathies. Journal of Neurochemistry. 2017, 143(5): 467-488.
2. Sabahi, M.; et al. Modification of glial cell activation through dendritic cell vaccination: promises for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Journal of Molecular Neuroscience. 2021, 71(7): 1410-1424.