Immunization Against Specific Fragments of Neurotrophin p75 Receptor Protects Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons in the Olfactory Bulbectomized Mice.

ABSTRACT: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive cognitive impairment associated with marked cholinergic neuron loss and amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide accumulation in the brain. The cytotoxicity in AD is mediated, at least in part, by Aβ binding with the extracellular domain of the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR), localized predominantly in the membranes of acetylcholine-producing neurons in the basal forebrain. Hypothesizing that an open unstructured loop of p75NTR might be the effective site for Aβ binding, we have immunized both olfactory bulbectomized (OBX) and sham-operated (SO) mice (n = 82 and 49, respectively) with synthetic peptides, structurally similar to different parts of the loops, aiming to block them by specific antibodies. OBX-mice have been shown in previous studies,

SUBMITTER: Bobkova N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4942728 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature