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Are shark antibodies helpful in the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's?
A Danish pharmaceutical company succeeded for the first time in breaking the so-called blood-brain barrier in mice with the help of shark antibodies. This process could in the future enable people with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease to be treated more effectively.
Lundbeck is a Danish pharmaceutical company that has long focused on the treatment of brain diseases such as depression and schizophrenia. One of the biggest challenges in neuroscience is that therapeutic drugs should cross the human blood-brain barrier, explain the Danish experts. This barrier is a special layer of cells around cerebral blood vessels that protects the brain from toxins.
Many people are unjustly afraid of sharks. However, researchers now found that shark antibodies could help us treat certain conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in the future more effectively. (Image: timsimages.uk/fotolia.com) Medication usually has difficulty crossing the blood-brain barrier
In a collaboration with the American company Ossianix, the Danish scientists tried to successfully cross the blood-brain barrier. Previously, patients either had to take large amounts of drugs so that some molecules could pass through the barrier from the bloodstream. Or the drugs had to be administered in a different way, such as by a direct injection into the human brain, the experts explain.
Shark antibodies act as a kind of transporter
Scientists have now announced that they have discovered in tests on mice how therapeutic antibodies can be bound to the shark-derived antibodies. These then act as a kind of transporter, helping to overcome the barrier.
Successful treatment of people could already be done in ten years
Frank Walsh, the founder and CEO of Ossianix, said in a press release that the first human trials could begin in just two years. It would then be possible for successful treatment to be provided to patients in less than a decade. The expert added that the new discovery could help treat the damage caused by some neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Sharks were the first species with antibodies
Kim Andersen, senior vice president and head of research at Lundbeck, says research has used 400 million years of natural development. This is because sharks were the first species to develop antibodies.
Hai antibodies allow drugs in higher doses to reach the brain
An important property of the shark antibody is its small size. These antibodies are about one-tenth the size of a normal antibody. The antibodies are similar to a Trojan horse, which allows it to cross a barrier that has been considered impenetrable for many years. This allows drugs to reach the brain at a much higher concentration than previously possible, Walsh explains.
New type of treatment could be helpful in diseases of the brain
Lundbeck said the technology found could pave the way for many new and more effective treatments for brain diseases. Among them are also some diseases that are currently considered untreatable.
Experts want to find more effective way to treat Alzheimer's
"Alzheimer's has become a core area of our research and we are following a number of different pathways and technologies in search of a way to treat the disease more effectively," say the scientists. (As)