Therapeutic potential of a TrkB agonistic antibody for Alzheimer’s disease Authors: Shudan Wang1,2,3, Hongyang Yao1,5, Yihua Xu1,3,5, Rui Hao4, Wen Zhang1, Hang Liu1,3, Ying Huang4, Wei Guo1,2,3*, Bai Lu1,2,3* 1. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 100084 2. Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, 100070 3. R&D Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Major Brain Diseases, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 518057 4. Center of Translational Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, 200065 5. These authors have contributed equally to this work * Correspondence: Dr. Bai Lu, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Room B303, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China, Tel: +86 62785101, E-mail:
[email protected] Dr. Wei Guo, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Room B302, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 100084 Tel: +86 62787837, E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract Repeated failures of “Aβ-lowering” therapies call for new targets and therapeutic approaches for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We propose to treat AD by halting neuronal death and repairing synapses using a BDNF-based therapy. To overcome the poor druggability of BDNF, we have developed an agonistic antibody AS86 to mimic the function of BDNF, and evaluate its therapeutic potential for AD. Method: Biochemical, electrophysiological and behavioral techniques were used to investigate the effects of AS86 in vitro and in vivo. Results: AS86 specifically activated the BDNF receptor TrkB and its downstream signaling, without affecting its other receptor p75NTR.