A novel approach to restricting the spread of neurofibrillary tau

7. Project Summary Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and is a growing problem as populations age. More than 25 million people are affected by dementia worldwide with most suffering from AD. AD is characterized by the presence of plaques of insoluble amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tangles of hyperphosphorylated aggregates of the cytoskeletal protein, tau. Thus far, most AD treatments have targeted Aβ aggregation and plaque formation, but these therapies have largely failed to translate from preclinical rodent models to humans. Interestingly, tau pathology has been shown to correlate better with cognitive decline than Aβ, and thus restricting the spread of neurofibrillary tau has become a growing focus for development of treatments for various tauopathies, including AD. It was recently discovered that LRP1 is a master regulator of tau uptake and spread in the brain, indicating that LRP1 may be an important therapeutic target for slowing the progression of various tauopathies. Novoron Bioscience is developing novel large-molecule therapies targeting LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1), a master regulator of tau uptake and spread in the brain, to slow the progression of tauopathies such as (AD) and improve functional outcomes in patients. Novoron’s lead compound, NOVO-118, is a high-affinity LRP1 antagonist that is actively taken up into the brain via both subcutaneous and intravenous administration. The purpose of this proposal is to evaluate the therapeutic potential of NOVO-118 by assessing its ability to restrict the spread of tau in the rodent brain. We will accomplish this by uncoupling proof of concept studies for effective tau restriction from assessment of translatability in terms of clinically relevant utilization. To accomplish this, we have designed this project with two primary goals: 1) generate necessary proof of concept demonstrating the ability of NOVO-118 to abrogate tau spread; and 2) de-risk the technology by demonstrating that we can deliver the drug and elicit benefit in a clinically translatable fashion.8. Project Narrative Tauopathies, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most prominent example, are a group of neurodegenerative conditions characterized by the spread of neurofibrillary tau, which is a process shown to be regulated by the LRP1 receptor. As tau spread has been shown to correlate strongly with cognitive decline, therapies to restrict such spread may provide a first-in-class approach to slowing the devastating effects of these diseases. The purpose of this proposal is to test the ability of NOVO-118, a novel antagonist of LRP1 that readily enters the brain, to reduce the spread of tau in the brain and consequently slow the cognitive decline associated with various tauopathies.