Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Tweaking the Immune Response Might Be a Key to Combat Neurodegeneration

By DZNE- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases | October 19, 2016

Zebrafish and humans are obviously quite different species. However, they share an evolutionary past that translates into various similarities on the cellular and molecular scale. “The regenerative skills apparent in zebrafish might lie dormant in humans and might somehow be activated by pulling the right strings”, Dr. Kizil explains. “This is why we study if and how zebrafish cope with neurodegeneration. We want to understand the basic molecular mechanisms of such a regenerative aptitude in order to design better clinical therapies.”

In the current study, the Dresden-based neuroscientist and his co-workers succeeded in mimicking symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in zebrafish brain. Conditions were triggered by Amyloid-Beta42 (Aβ42) peptides – one of the major contributors to the disease in human brains. Similar to our brains, Amyloid molecules accumulated in the neurons of zebrafish leading to immune response, synaptic degeneration, cell death, learning deficits and other dysfunctions. “This is the first time, such conditions have been generated in adult zebrafish through Aβ42 deposits”, Kizil says.

The significance of neuro-immune crosstalk

The Aβ42 deposits triggered a special inflammation-related signaling pathway that ultimately lead to enhanced neurogenesis, i.e. new neurons were built. “We found that a molecule called Interleukin-4 is very much involved in the generation of neurons. The molecule is released by the dying neurons and immune system cells. It then acts on neural stem cells, which are the progenitors of neurons, by increasing their proliferation”, Kizil says. “Interleukin-4 has been known to be a player in immune response and inflammation. But to date, the direct role of IL4 on stem cell proliferation has not been shown.”

A better understanding of how we could manipulate inflammatory conditions might aid to develop novel therapies against Alzheimer’s, Kizil argues. “In humans inflammation does not seem to act as a positive cue for regeneration as it does in zebrafish. Possibly because other factors interfere in a complex manner. Our zebrafish model offers the opportunity to study such factors one by one in a reductionist manner. Besides, our study points to the significance of the immune response. That is to say: by tweaking the immune response, for example with drugs, and targeting the right cell types, we might unlock the potential of human neural stem cells to proliferate and build new neurons. Of course, the challenge remains as to what will happen to those new neurons. But first things first: we have to start from the stem cells.”

###

Original publication

“IL4/STAT6 signaling activates neural stem cell proliferation and neurogenesis upon Amyloid-β42 aggregation in adult zebrafish brain”, Prabesh Bhattarai, Alvin Kuriakose Thomas, Mehmet Ilyas Cosacak, Christos Papadimitriou, Violeta Mashkaryan, Cynthia Froc, Susanne Reinhardt, Thomas Kurth, Andreas Dahl, Yixin Zhang, Caghan Kizil, Cell Reports, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.09.075


Filed Under: Drug Discovery

 

Related Articles Read More >

Sanders, King target DTC pharma ads but the industry worries more about threats to its $2B R&D model
Zoliflodacin wins FDA nod for treatment of gonorrhea
FDA approved ENFLONSIA for the prevention of RSV in Infants
First clinical study results of Dupixent for atopic dermatitis in patients with darker skin tones 
“ddd
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest news and trends happening now in the drug discovery and development industry.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Drug Discovery and Development
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • Medtech100 Index
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • R&D World
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery & Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE