Radiology Professor Develops Novel Approaches to Treating Alzheimer’s Disease

We are investigating novel therapeutic approaches to treating Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating neurodegenerative condition for which no effective therapies exist. Our initial investigations in mice have shown that the FDA-approved drug paclitaxelsignificantly improves Alzheimer’s-like memory loss and other associated deficits. Paclitaxel is best known as a chemotherapy drug used to treat numerous kinds of cancer. It works by stabilizing microtubules, microscopic support beams that give cells shape and are also a mechanism for molecules to move through the cell. Our research has shown the drug bolsters these structures in bran cells that would otherwise be damaged as Alzheimer's disease progresses. 

In collaboration with Jindrich Kopecek, PhD, and Jiyuan Yang, PhD, from the department of medicinal chemistry in the University of Utah College of Pharmacy, we are optimizing drug delivery for use in humans. The challenge is to deliver the drug to brain cells that are normally protected by the blood brain barrier, a dense network of blood vessels and tissue. Kopecek and Yang are overcoming the hurdle by conjugating paclitaxel to peptides that bind receptor proteins normally found in the brain. The goal is to develop the drug for testing in clinical trials.

This approach could potentially improve prospects for individuals with a number of progressive neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and amyotorophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).