ABSTRACT
It is well established that vaccination of humans and transgenic animals against fibrillar Aβ prevents amyloid accumulation in plaques and preserves cognitive function in transgenic mouse models. However, autoimmune side effects have halted the development of vaccines based on full length human Aβ. Further development of an effective vaccine depends on overcoming these side effects while maintaining an effective immune response. Vaccination with a random sequence antigen forming oligomers was just as effective as vaccination with the other antigens in improving cognitive function and reducing total plaque load (Aβ burden) in the Tg2576 mouse brains. The present study showed that the amyloid Aβ sequence is not necessary to produce a protective immune response that specifically targets generic amyloid oligomers. Using a nonhuman, random sequence antigen may facilitate the development of a vaccine that avoids autoimmune side effects.
