Nanoparticles for Therapy and Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

The University of Copenhagen is a partner in an EU-funded large-scale multi-million Euro research project, which aims to tackle Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, through nanotechnology.

Of 5 million cases of dementia in Europe 3 million are classified as AD, which is the forth leading cause of death in adults after heart disease, cancer and stroke. AD usually occur in the old age and is marked with a decline in memory, reasoning and planning. Affected individuals are also likely to develop seizures, hypertonicity (increase muscle movements) and incontinence (loss of normal control of the bowel or bladder). Given the continuing increase in life expectancy, an aging population is likely to fuel a steady rise in new cases and in fact these numbers are estimated to double during the next 30 years in Europe. Although substantial progress has been made in the scientific understanding of AD, there remains an urgent need to identify early detection strategies and effective therapies, in order to avert a financially overwhelming public health problem.

Hallmarks of AD include accumulation of clumps of proteins called β-amyloid plaques outside brain cells and accumulation of altered proteins inside the cells called neurofibrillary tangles. These plaques are the target of this project. Today, the development of a wide spectrum of promising nanoparticles (of similar sizes to viruses) is beginning to have a paradigm-shifting impact in medicine; they are changing the foundations of disease diagnosis, monitoring and treatment, and turning molecular discoveries into benefits for patients. To this end, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences is taking part in an 11 million Euro (~80 million DKK) integrated project on “Nanoparticles for Therapy and Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (NAD)” financed by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme launched this month. The consortium includes leading researchers from 18 other European academic centres of excellence as well as medium and large enterprises in Italy, Spain, UK, France, Slovakia, The Netherlands, Hungary, Finland, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden and Finland. The project involves design and engineering of a wide range of nanoscale particles capable of targeting β-amyloid simultaneously in the blood and in the brain, resulting in plaque destruction as well as for diagnostic purposes.

Of this fund, 550.000 Euro (~4 million DKK) is awarded to Professor Moein Moghimi (a nanomedicine pioneer at the Department of Pharmaceutics and Analytical Chemistry) to engage in design of safe nanoparticles capable of targeting β-amyloid in monomeric form as well in aggregated states (plaques, fibrils, oligomers). Professor Moghimi will also lead a workpackage (involving 4 other centres) to achieve these aims.

The NAD project was featured recently at the Institute of Nanotechnology’s web site.