FEBRUARY 2019 ISSUE - Digital Edition

BLOOD TEST FOR
ALZHEIMER’S MARKER?
Washington University scientists, in
collaboration with C2N Diagnostics,
showed that the protein tau increases in
blood after peripheral administration of an
anti-tau antibody.
The study in mice found that the level
of tau increase in blood correlated with the
tau pathology in the brain.
C2N Diagnostics, LLC based St Louis,
Missouri has developed technology
platforms like the Stable Isotope Spike
Absolute Quantitation (SISAQ) and Stable
Isotope Labeling Kinetic (SILK) that
enable the measurement of the absolute
concentration of peptides and specific
proteins in both CSF and plasma.
“We focus on a variety of assays
– using the primary platform of mass
spectrometry – to quantitate proteins
and other biomolecules implicated
in neurodegeneration,” said Joel B.
Braunstein, MD, CEO, C2N Diagnostics.
These assays are currently available
for use in preclinical research and clinical
research drug development settings. Some
of these assays may be used in the future
to serve as a clinical diagnostic aid in the
detection and monitoring of pathways
implicated in Alzheimer’s disease and
other forms of neurodegeneration, he
added.
CASCADE
how these proteins relate to each
other.
Impairments in cholesterol and
glucose metabolism, inflammation,
oxidative stress and dysfunctional
‘garbage collection system of the
brain’ are all supposed to help
push the amyloid accumulation,
which then probably causes
damage to the synapses leading
to tau aggregation.
New findings show both
Aβ and tau oligomers bind to
amyloid-β protein precursor
(AβPP). And the presence of this
protein is required for both Aβ
and tau to enter neurons and
induce abnormal synaptic function
and memory. It is also proposed
that extracellular oligomers of
Aβ and tau act in parallel and
upstream of AβPP in Alzheimer’s
pathogenesis.
However, therapeutic
approaches aimed at decreasing
Aβ levels and tau-based clinical
trials are yet to produce positive
findings.
FEBRUARY 2019 / FUTURE MEDICINE / 27