This technology is a full-spectrum platform for treatment of immune-mediated neurodegenerative disorders which is capable of identifying biomarkers of disease, profiling the disease, and halting the responsible immune reaction.
Unmet Need: Prediction, monitoring, and treatment of autoimmune attacks driving neurodegenerative diseases
Current diagnostic and treatment methods for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) focus on protein aggregates rather than the autoimmune response involved in these diseases. Since these protein aggregates are confined to the brain, medical procedures targeting them are difficult to perform and limited in the information they provide. There is no effective screen to identify immune markers or immunotherapy targets for these diseases.
The Technology: Peripheral blood-based platform for non-invasive prediction, diagnosis, and treatment of autoimmune neurological diseases
This technology uses a patient’s T cells and genetic information to screen for biomarkers of neurodegenerative disease. Using only blood samples from the patient, this technology enables identification of autoantigens driving the disease and subsequent targeting of those autoantigens for immunotherapy treatment. These next-generation approaches allow for personalized characterization of neurodegenerative diseases and targeting of patient-specific autoantigens.
This technology has been validated with human primary immune cells.
Applications:
- Test for biomarkers of immune-mediated neurodegenerative diseases
- Precision-medicine based treatment decision tool for neurodegenerative diseases
- Immunotherapeutic pipeline for neurodegenerative diseases
- Tool for profiling of immuno-neurodegenerative disease
Advantages:
- Accounts for immune system involvement in neurodegenerative diseases
- Non-invasive, requiring only blood samples
- Personalized immunotherapy based on patient immune cell activity
- Identifies markers of disease prior to appearance of symptoms
Co-Lead Inventors:
David Sulzer, Ph.D. and [Alessandro Sette, Ph.D.] (https://www.lji.org/faculty-research/labs/sette/#overview)
Patent Information:
Patent Status
Related Publications:
- Garretti F, Agaliu D, Lindestam Arlehamn CS, Sette A, Sulzer D “Autoimmunity in Parkinson’s Disease: The Role of α-Synuclein-Specific T cells” Front Immunol. 2019 Feb 21; 10: 303.
- Lindestam Arlehamn CS, Pham J, Alcalay R, Frazier A, Shorr E, Carpenter C, Sidney J, Dhanwani R, Agin-Liebes J, Garretti F, Amara A, Standaert D, Phillips E, Mallal S, Peters B, Sulzer D, Sette A. “Widespread Tau-Specific CD4 T Cell Reactivity in the General Population” J Immunol. 2019 Jul 1; 203(1): 84-92.
- Lindestam Arlehamn CS, Garretti F, Sulzer D, Sette A. “Roles for the adaptive immune system in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases” Curr Opin Immunol. 2019 Aug 17; 59:115-120.
- Sulzer D, Alcalay R, Garretti F, Cote L, Kanter E, Agin-Liebes J, Liong C, McMurtrey C, Hildebrand W, Mao X, Dawson V, Dawson T, Oseroff C, Pham J, Sidney J, Dilon M, Carpenter C, Weiskopf D, Phillips E, Mallal S, Paters B, Frazier A, Lindestam Arlehamn CS, Sette A. “T cells from patients with Parkinson’s disease recognize α-synuclein peptides” Nature. 2017 Jun 29; 546(7660):656-661.
Tech Ventures Reference:
IR CU16214, CU17340, CU17354, CU17357
Licensing Contact: Beth Kauderer
