A team of international researchers has found a promising new drug candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
The scientists say they have developed a peptide inhibitor called RI-AG03, which targets major aggregation “hot spots” of tau proteins, believed to be a key driver of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Collectively, our data describe several properties and attributes of RI-AG03 that make it a promising disease-modifying candidate to explore for reducing pathogenic tau aggregation in tauopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease,” the authors wrote in their study, which was published online Thursday in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The international research team included researchers from Lancaster University, the University of Southampton, Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom, the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Scientists found the RI-AGO3 inhibitor was effective in reducing the building of tau proteins in both lab and fruit fly studies. Given the real interest in reducing tau aggregation and the potential clinical benefit of using such agents in clinical practice, they said further research is warranted to determine its effectiveness in mammalian models.
Anthony Aggidis, PhD, lead author of the paper, said the team’s research represents an important first step toward potential treatments that can prevent the progression of diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
“By targeting both of the key areas on the tau protein, this unique approach could help address the growing impact of dementia on society, providing a much-needed new option for treating these devastating diseases,” Aggidis, a visiting researcher at the University of Southampton and former postdoctoral research associate at Lancaster University, said in a news release.
The Alzheimer’s Society UK, which funded the study, said the research represents a potentially promising breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
“This research is taking promising steps towards a new one-of-a-kind therapy which targets Tau, a damaging protein in the brains of people living with Alzheimer’s, preventing it from clumping together. This drug has the potential to be more targeted than others currently being studied, and we hope it will result in fewer toxic side effects,” Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation for the Alzheimer’s Society, said in the news release.
“It’s important to note that the study is in its early stages, so we don’t yet know if it will work or be safe for humans, but it’s an exciting development and we look forward to seeing where it leads,” he added.
