Flex-Hinge Bispecific Antibodies to Characterize Plasma Beta-Amyloid Species and Measure Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury on Alzheimer s Disease in Veterans
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant health issue that affects more than 1.7 million active Service members, Veterans, and civilians annually. While TBI increases one’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD), there is currently no way to predict who among those with TBI will progress to develop AD and/or ADRD. Methods to identify such individuals are desperately needed, especially now that experimental AD therapeutics have recently shown promise in clinical studies by slowing or halting the progression of AD if the disease is caught early. The first physical sign of AD and ADRD, even before impairment of memory, is the build-up of beta amyloid peptides in the form of plaques in the brain. A connection exists between these beta amyloid plaques and TBI, including their appearance within hours of TBI or their increased levels for up to a year after TBI. The current methods for detecting beta amyloid -- radioactive brain imaging and invasive spinal taps -- are costly and suboptimal for routine, long-term monitoring of patients for the progression to AD and/or ADRD. Hinge Bio, Inc. (Hinge) has innovative technology for the ultrasensitive detection of known and novel beta amyloid peptides present in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that can ultimately be used to test at-risk patients. This Flex-Hinge technology is based on a molecular “vise-grip” that grasps two different closely spaced regions on beta amyloid peptides allowing for their capture, analysis, and quantification. A preliminary assay has already identified a novel beta amyloid biomarker in blood that correlates precisely with the stage of AD. In this application, Hinge proposes to optimize its assay to detect and quantify the diversity of plasma and CSF beta amyloid peptides in clinical samples from >200 individuals with a history of TBI and/or varying stages of AD or ADRD. The goal is to develop a simple, non-invasive, cost-effective test to enable TBI patients and their physicians to monitor the long-term consequences of TBI as they pertain to the development of AD and ADRD, to make informed lifestyle decisions, and to ultimately help guide therapeutic decisions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 2018
- Source ID
- W81XWH1710650
Entities
People
- Daniel Capon
Organizations
- United States Army