Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
08:09
Gene-environment Interaction Models to Unmask Susceptibility Mechanisms in Parkinson's Disease
Published on: January 7, 2014
Pathways towards an effective immunotherapy for Parkinson's disease
Jessica A L Hutter-Saunders1, Rodney Lee Mosley, Howard E Gendelman
1Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA.
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics
|November 19, 2011
Summary
This review explores harnessing adaptive immune responses to clear misfolded proteins and promote neural repair in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease. The goal is to transform harmful autoreactive immune cells into beneficial neuroprotective ones.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimmunology
- Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Protein Misfolding Disorders
Background:
- Current immunotherapies for neurodegenerative diseases face challenges due to autoreactive T cells, which can worsen neuroinflammation and disease progression.
- Effective strategies are needed to clear misfolded aggregated proteins, the root cause of disorders like Parkinson's disease, while simultaneously promoting neural repair.
- Existing immunization methods targeting brain proteins have shown limited success in halting disease progression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review strategies for modifying adaptive immune responses to combat neurodegenerative diseases.
- To explore the potential of transforming autoreactive immune cells into regulatory neuroprotective cells for Parkinson's disease treatment.
- To discuss harnessing immunity for therapeutic gain by understanding its role in neurodegeneration and developing targeted modifications.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on immunotherapies for neurodegenerative diseases.
- Analysis of the role of adaptive immune responses, including T cells, in disease pathogenesis and progression.
- Exploration of novel approaches to break immunological tolerance and elicit beneficial immune responses against aberrant brain proteins.
Main Results:
- Humoral immune responses against aberrant brain proteins have yielded mixed success, with some protein clearance but failure to halt disease progression.
- Autoreactive T cells induced by some immunization strategies can lead to meningoencephalitis, accelerating neurodegeneration.
- The review highlights the need for alternative approaches that promote protein clearance and neural repair simultaneously.
Conclusions:
- Transforming autoreactive adaptive immune responses into regulatory neuroprotective cells is a promising strategy for Parkinson's disease.
- Inducing immune responses against modified brain proteins can break immunological tolerance and facilitate neuronal repair.
- A thorough understanding of immunity's role in neurodegenerative diseases is crucial for developing effective immunomodulatory therapies.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Parkinson Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting movement, with additional non-motor features. Its pathophysiology involves complex interactions among genetic susceptibility, environmental exposures, and cellular dysfunction, including dopaminergic neuron loss, protein aggregation, and mitochondrial impairment.Selective NeurodegenerationA key feature is the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, leading to reduced...
01:24Parkinson's Disease: Treatment
Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's Disease (PD), involve the gradual and irreversible destruction of neurons in particular brain areas. These disorders exhibit standard features like proteinopathies, selective vulnerability of some neurons, and an interaction of intrinsic properties, genetics, and environmental influences in neural injury.
Parkinson's Disease is primarily a result of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. The cornerstone of its...
Parkinson's Disease is primarily a result of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. The cornerstone of its...
01:15Parkinson's Disease: Overview
Neurodegenerative disorders are progressive diseases that cause irreversible damage and loss to neurons in specific brain areas. Examples of these disorders include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). These disorders share characteristics such as proteinopathies, selective neuronal vulnerability, and a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. The primary therapeutic goal for these conditions is to...
01:27Tumor Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a treatment that boosts or manipulates the immune system to fight diseases, including cancer. For instance, by stimulating an immune response through vaccinations against viruses that cause cancers, like hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus, these diseases can be prevented. Nonetheless, some cancer cells can avoid the immune system due to their rapid mutation and division. The immune response to many cancers involves three phases: elimination, equilibrium, and escape.
01:24Parkinson Disease l: Introduction
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects movement. It is characterized by motor symptoms such as resting tremors, muscle rigidity, bradykinesia (slowness of movement), and postural instability. Patients may notice hand tremors at rest, stiffness during movement, or a shuffling gait. In addition to motor features, non-motor symptoms include sleep disturbances, mood and behavioral changes, constipation, and cognitive impairment, all of which...
01:27Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response
Cytotoxic T cells are a vital component of the immune system. They have the remarkable ability to identify and target antigens on infected or abnormal cells. These antigens often originate from intracellular pathogens such as viruses or abnormal proteins cancer cells produce.
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...