Hao Fang, Guo Zhou, Qingli Li, Haichao Wang, Xiaobin Pang, Qing Xu* and Yunzhou Yu* Pages 45 - 55 ( 11 )
<P>Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). The amyloid-oligomer hypothesis indicates that the buildup of toxic oligomers in vivo is likely to impair memory and synaptic function. </P><P> Methods: In our study, a kind of novel recombinant chimeric 12×(Aβ1-15-Th) antigen was developed as 12-mer Aβ1-42-like assembly vaccine. We designed this 12×(Aβ1-15- Th) antigen to mimic the assembly states of Aβ1-42 using twelvefold Aβ1–15 (B cell epitopes of human Aβ1-42) and foreign human T helper (Th) epitopes (as the T cell epitopes of Aβ1-42) constructs. Its immunogenicity as a subunit vaccine was tested on C57/BL6 mice, and the efficacy was shown by applying it to AD mice. </P><P> Results: This 12×(Aβ1-15-Th) vaccine induced robust Aβ-specific antibodies in 3×Tg- AD and C57/BL6 mice. As early immunotherapeutic agent of AD, the 12×(Aβ1-15-Th) vaccine significantly improved the behavior performance of aged 3 × Tg-AD mice, and reduced the levels of soluble Aβ oligomers and soluble Aβ in the brain. In aged 3 × Tg- AD mice, immunotherapy with the 12×(Aβ1-15-Th) vaccine could prevent Aβ-induced decrease of synaptic proteins, which suggested that it had neuroprotective effects on the brain. </P><P> Conclusion: The novel recombinant 12×(Aβ1-15-Th) chimeric vaccine targeting of pathological conformations of Aβ oligomers has shown obvious neuroprotective benefits in the preclinical AD model mouse, which indicates that it is a good candidate vaccine for the prophylaxis of AD.</P>
Alzheimer's disease, Amyloid-β, Chimeric vaccine, Immunotherapy, Calpain, Synaptic protein.
Institute of Life Science and Biotechnology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing 100071, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing 100071, Institute of Life Science and Biotechnology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, Pharmaceutical College, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, Institute of Life Science and Biotechnology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing 100071