Research

Grant will fund development of vaccines to prevent dementia

An illustration of what neuronal networks look like as they degrade. WashU researchers are working to design vaccines that could potentially prevent the buildup of inflammatory protein accumulations in the brain, which is one of the precursors to developing Alzheimer’s disease. (Image: Shutterstock)
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Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia are devastating disorders that emerge following the buildup of misfolded proteins in the brain.

The newest generation of Alzheimer’s therapeutics targets accumulations of the protein amyloid beta with engineered antibodies, but the results have been underwhelming, with some adverse effects, not to mention using engineered antibodies can be prohibitively expensive.