Tau immunotherapy exerts a protective action both on hippocampus and retina in AD mouse model
Prof. Pietro Calissano's EBRI laboratory has recently published an article on International Journal of
Molecular Sciences.
Beyond classic deficits in hippocampal-dependent episodic memory, patients suffering from Alzheimer's Disease (AD) manifest sensory impairment in visual cognition consistent with extensive neuropathology di tau protein in the retina. In this preclinical study, our research group has demonstrated that the retina of Tg2576, a mouse model overexpressing the mutant form of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) APPK670/671L linked to early onset familial AD, displays changes in endocytic (BIN1, RIN3) and bioenergetic (glycolysis and L-Lactate) pathways which are similar to those that occur in the hippocampus. Interestingly, these alterations are countered following systemic administration of 12A12, a monoclonal antibody neutralizing a neurotoxic, tau-derived peptide both into retina and hippocampus. These results help elucidate the mechanisms underlying the beneficial action of 12A12mAb by indicating that similar molecular and metabolic retino-cerebral pathways are modulated in a coordinated fashion in vivo in response to its administration to tackle the neurosensorial AD degeneration.