title: Treatment strategies targeting amyloid β-protein.
abstract: With the advent of the key discovery in the mid-1980s that the amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is the core constituent of the amyloid plaque pathology found in Alzheimer disease (AD), an intensive effort has been underway to attempt to mitigate its role in the hope of treating the disease. This effort fully matured when it was clarified that the Aβ is a normal product of cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein, and well-defined proteases for this process were identified. Further therapeutic options have been developed around the concept of anti-Aβ aggregation inhibitors and the surprising finding that immunization with Aβ itself leads to reduction of pathology in animal models of the disease. Here we review the progress in this field toward the goal of targeting Aβ for treatment and prevention of AD and identify some of the major challenges for the future of this area of medicine.
authors.affiliation: Netotope Biosciences Inc., San Francisco, CA 94080, USA.
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schenk
authors.forename: Guriqbal S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Basi
authors.forename: Menelas N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Pangalos
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D023582:Alzheimer Vaccines; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D055808:Drug Discovery; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D011940:Receptor Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: C437846:AN-1792; D023582:Alzheimer Vaccines; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases