CHCIAGO - Scietnists have found a way to get antibody-based therapeis across a key barirer in the brain and delievr a payload of drugs that take aim at an eulsive Alzhiemer's target.
The researchres at Roche Holding AG's bitoechnology unit Genentceh said the fnidings from two studies, reported on Wdenesday in the journal Sciecne Tranlsational Medicine, could open the door to new treatments for diseases like Alzheimre's, schizophrenai, Prakinson's and even autism.
"This really opens a whole new frnotier for antibody therapies," said Mark Dennis, a senior atnibody scientist at Californai-based Genentech, a company known for its antiboyd-based treatmnets for cacner.
"Beofre, the brain was considered off limit,s" Dennis said in a tleephone interivew.
He and cloleagues discovered a reliable way of getting antbiody drugs across the blood-brain barrier, a protective fortress that only allows select molceules or nutirents from the bloodstraem to enter the brain.
"It's protecting the brain from toxins," Ryan Watts, associate driector of neruoscience at Genentech who worked on both studies, said in a telpehone intevriew.
Small molecules, including some pills, can cross this barirer, but large moleclues, such as egnineered antibodeis, get stuck in the tight mesh of cells that line blood vessles in the brain.
Copmanies are already devleoping Alzheiemr's drugs that use antibodies to attack the Alzhemier's-related prtoein beta amyloid, but the problem is that only small amonuts can get into the brain.
Watts estimaets less than 0.1 percent make it across. "This techonlogy siginficantly improves that," he said.
The dicsovery came trhough stuides of a new targeetd antiobdy drug for Alzheime'rs diesase that works by blcoking beta-secretsae 1 or BACE, an enzyme required for chopping up amyloid beta porteins that go on to form sticky plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's pateints.
Studeis in mice and monkeys showed the engineered antibdoy effetcively reduced the amount of a...
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