IDENTIFICATION OF ALZHEIMER-SPECIFIC ANTIGENS IN CSF

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEFINE ANTIGENS IN THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF) THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. ULTIMATELY, THE POTENTIAL RESULTS OF THIS EFFORT MAY BE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CSF-BASED DIAGNOSTIC IMMUNOASSAYFOR USE BOTH AS A DIAGNOSTIC MARKER AND AS A USEFUL ADJUNCT TO MONITOR EVENTUAL THERAPY. THE METHODOLOGY TO IDENTIFY THE DIAGNOSTIC MARKERS INVOLVES THE SCREENING OF A LARGE NUMBER OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES WITH A HIGHLY SENSITIVE AND PREDICTIVE FLUOROMETRIC TEST. THE ASSAY IS CONFIGURED IN SUCH A WAY THAT ONLY MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES OF DIAGNOSTIC POTENTIAL ARE IDENTIFIED. IN ADDITION, THE IMMUNOGENS THAT ARE TO BE USED ARE THOSE RELATED DIRECTLY TO THE DISEASE. THUS, THE RESEARCH PLAN BRINGS TOGETHER MACROMOLECULES KNOWNTO BE INVOLVED IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE WITH A SENSITIVE, HIGH-VOLUME SCREEN CAPABLE OF DETECTING ANTIBODIES OF DIAGNOSTIC POTENTIAL. THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH PLAN WILL BE TO IMMUNOAFFINITY PURIFY AND STRUCTURALLY CHARACTERIZE ANTIGENS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY ELEVATED IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.