A pentavalent peptide vaccine elicits Aβ and tau antibodies with prophylactic activity in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Amyloid-β (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau protein are targets for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) immunotherapies, which are generally focused on single epitopes within Aβ or tau. However, due to the complexity of both Aβ and tau in AD pathogenesis, a multipronged approach simultaneously targeting multiple epitopes of both proteins could overcome limitations of monotherapies. Herein, we propose an active AD immunotherapy based on a nanoparticle vaccine comprising two Aβ peptides (1-14 and pyroglutamate pE3-14) and three tau peptides (centered on phosphorylated pT181, pT217 and pS396/404).

Diabetic Ketoacidosis Induces Tau Hyperphosphorylation in Rat Brain.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk for cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a serious complication of DM, may also cause brain damage and further AD, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear.

Objective: Our objective was to understand how DKA can promote neurodegeneration in AD.

Efficient Delivery of across the Blood Brain Barrier Using AAVphp Construct in Adult KO Mice Suggests the Feasibility of Gene Therapy for Fragile X Syndrome.

Background Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and autism. Gene therapy may offer an efficient method to ameliorate the symptoms of this disorder. Methods An AAVphp.

Passive immunization inhibits tau phosphorylation and improves recognition learning and memory in 3xTg-AD mice.

Tau pathology is essential in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related tauopathies. Tau immunotherapy aimed at reducing the progression of tau pathology provides a potential therapeutic strategy for treating these diseases. By screening monoclonal antibodies 43D, 63B, 39E10, and 77G7 that recognize epitopes ranging from tau's N-terminus to C-terminus, we found the 77G7, which targets the microtubule-binding domain promoted tau clearance in a dose-dependent manner by entering neuronal cells in vitro.

Gut Microbiota and Immunotherapy for Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that eventually leads to dementia and death of the patient. Currently, no effective treatment is available that can slow or halt the progression of the disease. The gut microbiota can modulate the host immune system in the peripheral and central nervous system through the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Heightened Tameness and Accelerated Handling-Habituation in 3×Tg-AD Mice on a B6;129 Genetic Background.

Background: The triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (3×Tg-AD) has gained popularity in Alzheimer's research owing to the progressive development of both amyloid- and tau pathologies in its brain. Prior handling-habituation, a necessary preparation procedure that reduces anxiety and stress in rodents, was seldom described in the literature involving these mice and needs to be addressed.

Objective: We sought to determine whether 3×Tg-AD mice differ from B6;129 genetic control mice in terms of tameness and prior habituation to handling.

AKT/GSK-3β signaling is altered through downregulation of mTOR during cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion injury.

Purpose: Cellular responses following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury are critical to recovery and survival after ischemic stroke. Understanding of these cellular responses can help the design of therapies to protect brain tissue and promote recovery after stroke. One of these cellular responses may be mediated by the AKT (protein kinase B) signal transduction pathway.

Multi-Targets: An Unconventional Drug Development Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that eventually leads to dementia and death of the patient. Despite the enormous amounts of resources and efforts for AD drug development during the last three decades, no effective treatments have been developed that can slow or halt the progression of the disease. Currently available drugs for treating AD can only improve clinical symptoms temporarily with moderate efficacies.

Neurotrophic Treatment Initiated During Early Postnatal Development Prevents the Alzheimer-Like Behavior and Synaptic Dysfunction.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by impairments in synaptic plasticity and cognitive performance. Cognitive dysfunction and loss of neuronal plasticity are known to begin decades before the clinical diagnosis of the disease. The important influence of congenital genetic mutations on the early development of AD provides a novel opportunity to initiate treatment during early development to prevent the Alzheimer-like behavior and synaptic dysfunction.

Thiamme2-G, a Novel O-GlcNAcase Inhibitor, Reduces Tau Hyperphosphorylation and Rescues Cognitive Impairment in Mice.

Background: Abnormal hyperphosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein tau plays a pivotal role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We previously found that O-GlcNAcylation inversely correlates to hyperphosphorylation of tau in AD brain, and downregulation of brain O-GlcNAcylation promotes tau hyperphosphorylation and AD-like neurodegeneration in mice.

Objective: Herein we investigated the effect of increasing O-GlcNAcylation by using intermittent dosing with low doses of a potent novel O-GlcNAcase (OGA) inhibitor on AD-like brain changes and cognitive function in a mouse model of sporadic AD (sAD) induced by intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of streptozotocin (STZ).

Health risks of inhaled selected toxic elements during the haze episodes in Shijiazhuang, China: Insight into critical risk sources.

PM in Shijiazhuang was collected from October 15, 2018 to January 31, 2019, and selected toxic elements were measured. Five typical haze episodes were chosen to analyze the health risks and critical risk sources. Toxic elements during the haze episodes accounted for 0.

Sevoflurane-induced neuronal apoptosis in neonatal mice is prevented with intranasal administration of insulin.

Concerns about the potential neurotoxicity of general anesthesia to the developing brain have been increasing in recent years. Animal studies have shown that neonatal exposure to general anesthesia causes both acute neurotoxicity and behavioral abnormalities later in life. In the present study, we observed over-activation of neuronal apoptosis in the brain of neonatal mice after a single exposure to anesthesia with sevoflurane for 6 hours at the age of 7 days.

Prenatal to early postnatal neurotrophic treatment prevents Alzheimer-like behavior and pathology in mice.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of middle-aged to old individuals. The pathophysiological process of AD is believed to begin many years before the emergence of clinical symptoms. The important influence of congenital genetic aberrations on the development of AD provides a novel opportunity to initiate prenatal to early postnatal pharmacological treatment to address the role of this critical period of brain development in the disease.

Young blood plasma reduces Alzheimer's disease-like brain pathologies and ameliorates cognitive impairment in 3×Tg-AD mice.

Background: Recent studies indicated that circulatory factors in blood plasma from young animals can reactivate neurogenesis, restore synaptic plasticity, and improve cognitive function in aged animals. Here, we investigated if young plasma could have a possible therapeutic effect for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like pathologies and cognitive impairment in triple-transgenic AD (3×Tg-AD) mice.

Methods: We intravenously injected plasma from 2- to 3-month-old C57BL/6 J wild-type mice into 16-17-month-old 3×Tg-AD mice twice a week for 8 weeks.

Neonatal Exposure to Anesthesia Leads to Cognitive Deficits in Old Age: Prevention with Intranasal Administration of Insulin in Mice.

Recent pre-clinical and clinical studies suggest that general anesthesia in infants and children may increase the risk of learning disabilities. Currently, there is no treatment for preventing anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity and potential long-term functional impairment. Animal studies have shown that neonatal exposure to anesthesia can induce acute neurotoxicity and long-term behavioral changes that can be detected a few months later.

Anesthesia with sevoflurane or isoflurane induces severe hypoglycemia in neonatal mice.

Sevoflurane and isoflurane are among the most commonly used general anesthetics for children including infants, but their impact on metabolism, especially on blood glucose level, in children is not well understood. We investigated the impacts of anesthesia of neonatal (7-8 days old) and adult (2-3 months old) mice with the inhalational anesthetics 2.5% sevoflurane or 1.

Why delay in effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease and related conditions.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) was first described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906 but the protein composition of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques was not decoded till about seven to eight decades later, respectively. The bulk of studies during the last four decades were focused on Aβ amyloid and led to many human clinical trials, none of which showed any beneficial therapeutic effects. Though the outcome of prodromal Aβ immunotherapy in carriers of AD-causing gene mutations is still awaited, this has led to a shift away from Aβ-based, toward tau-based, therapeutic approaches.

Intranasal Administration of Insulin Reduces Chronic Behavioral Abnormality and Neuronal Apoptosis Induced by General Anesthesia in Neonatal Mice.

Children, after multiple exposures to general anesthesia, appear to be at an increased risk of developing learning disabilities. Almost all general anesthetics-including sevoflurane, which is commonly used for children-are potentially neurotoxic to the developing brain. Anesthesia exposure during development might also be associated with behavioral deficiencies later in life.

Intranasal Insulin Increases Synaptic Protein Expression and Prevents Anesthesia-Induced Cognitive Deficits Through mTOR-eEF2 Pathway.

General anesthesia increases the risk for cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in vulnerable individuals such as the elderly. We previously reported that prior administration of insulin through intranasal delivery can prevent the anesthesia-induced cognitive impairment and biochemical changes in the brain. However, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Pathological Alterations of Tau in Alzheimer's Disease and 3xTg-AD Mouse Brains.

Microtubule-associated protein tau in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain is hyperphosphorylated, truncated, and aggregated into neurofibrillary tangles. Oligomeric and hyperphosphorylated tau (Oligo-tau) isolated from AD brain captures and templates normal tau into filaments both in vitro and in vivo; this prion-like activity is believed to be responsible for the progression of neurofibrillary pathology in AD. The 3xTg-AD mouse model develops both Aβ and tau pathologies and thus gains popularity in preclinical studies of AD.

Neuronal O-GlcNAc transferase regulates appetite, body weight, and peripheral insulin resistance.

The ogt gene encodes O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (O-GlcNAc transferase [OGT]) that catalyzes the transfer of β-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) from the uridine-diphosphate-GlcNAc to the hydroxyl group of serine or threonine residues of nucleocytoplasmic proteins. This process is a common protein posttranslational modification, called protein O-GlcNAcylation, which is a known intracellular sensor of glucose metabolism and plays an important role in regulating cellular signaling, transcription, and metabolism. However, little is known about the function of OGT in the brain.