Novel Protein : Alzheimer's Vaccine

June 21, 2012 — A neuronal protein may offer a potential target for immunization against Alzheimer's disease (AD), new research suggests.

According to investigators from the University of Zurich, ankyrin G (ankG) may represent a novel target for AD immunotherapy.

"We showed that a pathological extracellular deposition of the neuronal protein ankG evokes the production of antibodies in patients with AD, which may reduce the level of beta-amyloid and its related neurological disease," Antonella Chadha Santuccione, MD, of the Division of Psychiatry Research, University of Zurich, in Switzerland, told Medscape Medical News.

The study was published online June 12 in Molecular Psychiatry."These findings could be useful in the design of a vaccine against AD. A vaccination protocol based on the use of anti-ankG antibodies could be protective against neurodegeneration," she added./.../