Akihiko Urayama
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX·Neuroscience
New antibody drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) can clear amyloid-beta, a sticky protein that builds up into plaques in the brain. But these treatments can also cause dangerous side effects: brain swelling, small bleeds and, rarely, death.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
Alzheimer's disease
amyloid-beta
anti-amyloid immunotherapy
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Nov 2029
What they work on
- Determine how chimeric versions of aducanumab and lecanemab are cleared from the brain in Alzheimer's model mice, and why clearance slows with age.
- Use a PK/PD model, which links drug levels to drug effects, to relate long-term antibody exposure to MRI-detected ARIA, cognition, and worsening cerebral amyloid angiopathy in AD mice.
- Compare blood-vessel inflammation pathways in ARIA-positive and ARIA-negative treated mice to learn how inflammation increases amyloid buildup in vessel walls.
More about the research
On brain scans these side effects show up as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA). Nobody yet knows exactly why ARIA happens. Knowing the cause is key to giving these drugs safely.
Why it matters
Anti-amyloid antibodies are among the first treatments that remove amyloid from the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. Their safety risks, including brain swelling and bleeding, limit their use. Identifying the inflammatory pathways behind ARIA could point to anti-inflammatory treatments given alongside the antibodies. It could also guide safer dosing strategies for patients.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jorge Llibre-Guerra
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Medicine & Clinical Research
Identify clinical, genetic and proteomic predictors of ARIA risk in patients receiving amyloid-targeted treatments, using the DIAN-TU trial cohort and the real-world Memory Diagnostic Clinic cohort.
Amal Khalil Kaddoumi
Augusta University, GA·Pharmacology
Compare how well racemic etodolac and its R- and S-forms improve a cell-based blood-brain barrier model with amyloid-β pathology, measuring barrier permeability, Aβ clearance and RNA expression changes across doses.
Florin Musteata
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, NY·Pharmacology
Build biocompatible microextraction probes from flexible medical-grade metal wires coated with polymers and high-affinity extraction phases, to draw antibody drugs directly from tumors.
The school
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: 25 labs on PI Pages, $419M a year on research, 340 research doctorates a year.
More about University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
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