Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Toward inflammation-free therapeutics in Alzheimer’s disease

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

From Nature Medicine

View current issue Submit your manuscript

An engineered fusion protein exploits the efferocytosis pathway to clear amyloid-β (Aβ) from the brain without eliciting the severe inflammatory adverse effects associated with Aβ-targeting antibody-based immunotherapies. In mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, this approach induced robust clearance of Aβ without inflammation, improved synapse protection, and decreased brain microhemorrhage, which result in superior behavioral recovery.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: αAβ–Gas6 eliminates Aβ without inducing microhemorrhage.

References

  1. Busche, M. A. & Hyman, B. T. Synergy between amyloid-beta and tau in Alzheimer’s disease. Nat. Neurosci. 23, 1183–1193 (2020). A review article that presents the complex interaction between Aβ and tau in AD pathogenesis.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sevigny, J. et al. The antibody aducanumab reduces Abeta plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. Nature 537, 50–56 (2016). A paper that reports the efficacy and safety data from a phase 1b randomized trial of aducanumab.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fuller, J. P., Stavenhagen, J. B. & Teeling, J. L. New roles for Fc receptors in neurodegeneration—the impact on immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease. Front. Neurosci. 8, 235 (2014). A review article that suggests that activation of inflammatory FcRs in the central nervous system may have harmful consequences.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Doran, A. C., Yurdagul, A. Jr. & Tabas, I. Efferocytosis in health and disease. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 20, 254–267 (2020). A review article that presents how phagocytes take up and process apoptotic cells.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lemke, G. Biology of the TAM receptors. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol. 5, a009076 (2013). A review article that presents how TAM receptor–ligand signaling controls the innate immune response.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Jung, H. et al. Anti-inflammatory clearance of amyloid-β by a chimeric Gas6 fusion protein. Nat. Med. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01926-9 (2022).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Toward inflammation-free therapeutics in Alzheimer’s disease. Nat Med 28, 1765–1766 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01972-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01972-3

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

Navigation