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Nasal tau immunotherapy clears intracellular tau pathology and improves cognitive functions in aged tauopathy mice
Sagar Gaikwad, Nicha Puangmalai, Minal Sonawane, Mauro Montalbano, Rachel Price, Malini S Iyer, Anamika Ray, Sandra Moreno et al.. Science translational medicine, 2024-07-03
Topic: Disease mechanisms in lab and animal studies
Pathological tau aggregates cause cognitive decline in neurodegenerative tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). These aggregates are prevalent within intracellular compartments. Current tau immunotherapies have shown limited efficacy in clearing intracellular tau aggregates and improving cognition in clinical trials. In this study, we developed toxic tau conformation-specific monoclonal antibody-2 (TTCM2), which selectively recognized pathological tau aggregates in brain tissues from patients with AD, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). TTCM2 potently inhibited tau-seeding activity, an essential mechanism underlying tauopathy progression. To effectively target intracellular tau aggregates and ensure rapid delivery to the brain, TTCM2 was loaded in micelles (TTCM2-ms) and administered through the intranasal route. We found that intranasally administered TTCM2-ms efficiently entered the brain in hTau-tauopathy mice, targeting pathological tau in intracellular compartments. Moreover, a single intranasal dose of TTCM2-ms effectively cleared pathological tau, elevated synaptic proteins, and improved cognitive functions in aged tauopathy mice. Mechanistic studies revealed that TTCM2-ms cleared intracellular, synaptic, and seed-competent tau aggregates through tripartite motif-containing 21 (TRIM21), an intracellular antibody receptor and E3 ubiquitin ligase known to facilitate proteasomal degradation of cytosolic antibody-bound proteins. TRIM21 was found to be essential for TTCM2-ms-mediated clearance of tau pathology. Our study collectively provides evidence of the effectiveness of nasal tau immunotherapy in targeting and clearing intracellular tau pathology through TRIM21 and enhancing cognition in aged tauopathy mice. This study could be valuable in designing effective tau immunotherapies for AD and other tauopathies.
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APA 7th
Gaikwad, S., Puangmalai, N., Sonawane, M., Montalbano, M., Price, R., Iyer, M. S., et al. (2024). Nasal tau immunotherapy clears intracellular tau pathology and improves cognitive functions in aged tauopathy mice. Science translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adj5958
Vancouver
Gaikwad S, Puangmalai N, Sonawane M, Montalbano M, Price R, Iyer MS, et al. Nasal tau immunotherapy clears intracellular tau pathology and improves cognitive functions in aged tauopathy mice. Science translational medicine. 2024. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.adj5958. PMID: 38959324.
BibTeX
@article{gaikwad2024-38959324,
author = {Gaikwad, Sagar and Puangmalai, Nicha and Sonawane, Minal and Montalbano, Mauro and Price, Rachel and Iyer, Malini S and Ray, Anamika and Moreno, Sandra and others},
title = {{Nasal tau immunotherapy clears intracellular tau pathology and improves cognitive functions in aged tauopathy mice}},
journal = {Science translational medicine},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1126/scitranslmed.adj5958},
pmid = {38959324},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adj5958}
}
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Key findings
- We found that intranasally administered TTCM2-ms efficiently entered the brain in hTau-tauopathy mice, targeting pathological tau in intracellular compartments.
- Mechanistic studies revealed that TTCM2-ms cleared intracellular, synaptic, and seed-competent tau aggregates through tripartite motif-containing 21 (TRIM21), an intracellular antibody receptor and E3 ubiquitin ligase known to facilitate proteasomal degradation of cytosolic antibody-bound proteins.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multicenter collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Science translational medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2024 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Laboratory or animal study (title names “mice”) — scores zero |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 38959324) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 24 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100. |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
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