CONFERENCE COVERAGE SERIES
International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases 2023
Gothenberg, Sweden
28 March – 01 April 2023
Pumping Up Progranulin: Scientists Show New Efforts to Get It Done
Queen Sylvia of Sweden traveled to Gothenburg to welcome scientists to AD/PD. At the conference, the buzz was on about approaches to double levels of the lysosomal protein in FTD.
First Hit on Aggregated Tau: Antisense Oligonucleotide Lowers Tangles
Biogen/IONIS’s tau ASO BIIB080 dropped participants’ tau PET signal below baseline in six months of treatment, according to data from a Phase 1 study presented at AD/PD.
Tau Chimeras Do Make Fibrils—and a Chaperone Rips Them Apart
Inclusions in tau seed sensor cells are made of amyloid fibrils, say scientists at AD/PD 2023. In those cells, and in human neurons, a dis-aggregase shreds them.
Macrophages Blamed for Vascular Trouble in ApoE4 Carriers
Perivascular macrophages both produce and react to the apolipoprotein, releasing toxic reactive oxygen species that constrict blood vessels.
Attack From Within: How Ancient Viruses Resurface to Spread Tau
Envelope proteins from endogenous retroviruses help shuttle tau seeds between cells. Could HERVs fuel tauopathies?
What Happens After Amyloid Plaque Removal? Who Benefits Most?
Clearance triggers improvement in downstream markers of inflammation and neurodegeneration—but not in those who started with high tangle burden. (Clue: women.)
Scientists Ask What Plaque Clearance Means for the Long Haul
At AD/PD, scientists showed 3- and 4-year amyloid immunotherapy data hinting at sustained cognitive benefits. The number of remaining participants is tiny.
All Roads Lead to TREM2: Gearing Up to Target This Receptor
At AD/PD, scientists placed more AD genes into microglial pathways, homed in on how TREM2 gets cleaved, debuted TREM2 agonists, and unearthed potential biomarkers.
Risk Gene Conspiracy: Clusterin Binds CD33, Souring Microglial Taste for Aβ
Clusterin latches onto dimers of CD33 on the microglial cell surface, setting off inhibitory signaling that squelched phagocytosis.
TREM2 Protects the Brain From Herpes. The Virus Fights Back.
The microglial receptor activates an antiviral signaling cascade. The virus downregulates TREM2 expression after infecting microglia.
Synuclein Assay Passes the Sniff Test—What of Other Seeds?
Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative identifies PD with high sensitivity and specificity.
Next Goals for Immunotherapy: Make It Safer, Less of a Hassle
Lilly’s Phase 3 antibody remternetug resembles donanemab, but without pesky antidrug antibodies; Prothena’s Phase 1 PRX012 may need fewer injections.
From Phagocytosis to Exophagy: Microglia's Digestive Tract Dissected
At AD/PD, scientists zeroed in on endolysosomal mechanisms in microglia that may contribute to neurodegenerative disease. Blending omics with cellular studies leads them from genes and function.
With Microglia, It Takes a Village to Connect the Dots
Scientists showed how pooling microglia from different donors, then putting them through cutting-edge analyses, can link genetic variation to functional change.
By Unleashing Microglial cGAS, Tau STINGs Neurons
cGAS and STING initiate a type I interferon response, which weakens neurons’ resilience to tau pathology.
Dysregulated Lipid Metabolism Comes to the Fore at AD/PD
In Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Lewy body dementia, phospholipid and cholesterol homeostasis are disrupted early on. Scientists are bringing new methods to bear on the problem.
Microglia Conflicted: To Help, or to Hinder, Tau’s March Across the Brain?
Data from TRIAD cohort cast activated microglia, egged on by ApoE4, as harbingers of tau pathology and neurodegeneration. Data from BioFinder hint that other microglia restrain these processes.
New Arrows Aimed at Tau: Single-Domain Antibody, Peptibody, Vaccine
Scientists devised fresh approaches for curbing tau tangles that might better reach the protein inside cells, or target several pathologies at once.
Long COVID and Dementia: The Link Is Still Elusive
While memory problems plague some people with lingering COVID symptoms, researchers do not yet understand what is going wrong in their brains.