Mourad Tayebi
University of Surrey, UK
Title: Targeting soluble oligomers associated with Alzheimer with antibody-secreting mesenchymal stem cells
Biography
Biography: Mourad Tayebi
Abstract
Although there is currently no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), significant advances have been made in suppressing its progress, using conventional antibodies that block aggregation of the abnormally folded proteins. The major limitation in targeting plaques and aggregates associated with Alzheimer in the CNS is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which restricts the access of biologics and drugs to the brain parenchyma. To that end, we used anti-oligomer PRIOC-antibody-secreting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) modified by Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) technology. Tg2576 and htau mice models were used to assess the therapeutic efficacy of a sustained local delivery of PRIOC mAbs in situ. This led to substantial reduction of Aβ plaques and aggregate formation/reduction and neuropathology and improvement of cognitive deficits in these animals. Our preliminary results indicate that this strategy might be useful in reducing Aβ burden and neuropathology recognized in Alzheimer patients.