Anti-CCR5 nanoparticles to treat Alzheimer’s disease are to be developed with support of a major funding boost.
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are debilitating diseases affecting over 6.7 million people in the United States and over 55 million people worldwide.
The condition is characterised by multiple factors such as amyloid plaque formation, tau protein entanglement, enzyme degradation and inflammation.
Inflammation in the brain is associated with the CCR5 gene that increases with age, and CCR5 has been correlated with impairments in memory consolidation in aged mice, which was reversed with a CCR5 knockout drug that inhibits this receptor.
Clinical stage biotechnology company Aphios has been awarded an NIH SBIR grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to develop the nanoparticles.
Dr. Trevor Castor, principal investigator on the study, said: “We are utilising targeted nanoparticles manufactured by our proprietary PNS (polymer nanoparticles) technology to transport the anti- CCR5 antagonist across the blood brain barrier to knock down the CCR5 gene, control inflammation, and manage dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our nanotechnology platform will be able to co-transport our anti-CCR5 antagonist with other therapeutics such as anti-amyloid antibodies with different and potentially synergistic mechanisms of actions into the Alzheimer’s disease brain.”