BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Rogue peptides in Alzheimer's

January 19, 2004 8:00 AM UTC

A number of companies are trying to develop antibodies or vaccines against the plaques seen as crucial for the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease, but none has been successful so far. Acumen Pharmaceuticals Inc. believes this may be due to an incomplete understanding of the underlying causes of AD.

The company's therapeutic approach is based on findings published more than five years ago, when researchers showed an association between a newly discovered form of the amyloid beta protein - called amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs) - and their role in impaired neuronal function and neuronal degeneration in AD (see BioCentury, June 1, 1998)...