Alzheimer's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alzheimer's Disease, including details on diagnosis, memory loss, heredity, treatment, medication.

Transgenic potato expressing Abeta reduce Abeta burden in Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Youm JW, Kim H, Han JH, Jang CH, Ha HJ, Mook-Jung I, Jeon JH, Choi CY, Kim YH, Kim HS, Joung H

Plant Cell Biotechnology Lab., Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon 305-335, Republic of Korea.

Beta amyloid (Abeta) is believed one of the major pathogens of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the reduction of Abeta is considered a primary therapeutic target. Immunization with Abeta can reduce Abeta burden and pathological features in transgenic AD model mice. Transgenic potato plants were made using genes encoding 5 tandem repeats of Abeta1-42 peptides with an ER retention signal. Amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice (Tg2576) fed with transgenic potato tubers with adjuvant showed a primary immune response and a partial reduction of Abeta burden in the brain. Thus, Abeta tandem repeats can be expressed in transgenic potato plants to form immunologically functional Abeta, and these potatoes has a potential to be used for the prevention and treatment of AD.

Published 12 December 2005 in FEBS Lett, 579(30): 6737-44.
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