Last summer, in the midst of a research project at the Center for Neurologic Diseases in Boston, Jodi Leverone of Hampton, New Hampshire, had the opportunity to shadow a doctor during his rounds at a clinic for patients with Alzheimer's disease. "When I saw how many people could be helped by treatment," says Jodi, "it put all the work we were doing in perspective." Now, Jodi is making the most of her senior project in neuroscience by continuing the search for an effective way to immunize the body against the disease.
Alzheimer's disease, which afflicts more than 12 million people worldwide, is caused by a number of genetic and environmental factors that lead to the death of nerve cells in the brain. Many researchers believe that the primary culprit behind this cell death is a naturally occurring protein, called beta amyloid, that is toxic to nerve cells in large quantities. "Once those nerve cells have died," Jodi explains, "whole regions of the brain become inaccessible, and the person experiences loss of memory and other mental functions."
Scientists have already discovered that, when treated with the amyloid, animals with Alzheimer's disease will slowly build up antibodies that destroy existing beta amyloid in the brain, and such treatment is now being used in human trials. Jodi's research may add significantly to these findings by testing whether or not the addition of specific bacterial proteins to the immunization can actually enhance the natural immune response.
In the lab, Jodi prepares immunization treatments (amyloid proteins combined with the bacterial protein) and nasally treats the mice with them twice a week for six weeks. She takes weekly blood samples from all of the mice and measures the amount of antibodies that have been produced. Finally, Jodi observes the immune response from their brain tissue. If the bacterially immunized mice show a greater immune response than those that have been immunized with amyloid proteins alone, Jodi's findings will advance the treatment of the disease to a new level. Future research will then examine the effects of these immunizations on mice that have been bred specifically to develop Alzheimer's and perhaps one day on afflicted humans themselves.
