title: Antibody therapy in neurodegenerative disease.
abstract: Advances in medical science have led to increased life expectancy and increased median age in the population. Because the symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases generally onset in mid- to late-life, a concomitant increase in the number of persons afflicted with these devastating diseases has occurred. Developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases is of the highest priority due to the enormous cost of medical care required, as well as for the human suffering involved. Although caused by a variety of genetic and environmental insults, such diseases share commonalities. Many of these diseases are proteinopathies--diseases caused by misfolded, aggregating proteins. Antibodies that can recognize and remove misfolded proteins are ideally suited for proteinopathy therapeutics. The numerous intriguing advances in antibody-based therapies for neurodegenerative diseases are discussed in this review.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Southwell
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051379:Mice; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D011487:Protein Conformation; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000276:immunology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; C086055:HTT protein, human; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D016875:tau Proteins