Method of screening for compounds that dissolve paired helical filaments

US6200768A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Föderung der Wissenschaften e.V. · US

Inventors

• Eva-Maria Mandelkow · Hamburg, DE
• Eckhard Mandelkow · Hamburg, DE
• Birgit Lichtenberg-Kraag · Prenzlau, DE
• Jacek Biernat · Hamburg, DE
• Gerard Drewes · Hamburg, DE
• Barbara Steiner · Ludwigshafen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 28, 1994
• Grant date: Mar 13, 2001
• Expiry date: Nov 28, 2014

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S436/811
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

The invention relates to epitopes of the protein which are specifically occurring in a phosphorylated state in tau protein from Alzheimer paired helical filaments, to protein kinases which are responsible for the phosphorylation of the amino acids of the tau protein giving rise to said epitopes, and to antibodies specific for said epitopes. The invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's disease, to diagnostic compositions and methods for the detection of Alzheimer's disease and to the use of said epitopes for the generation of antibodies specifically detecting Alzheimer tau protein. Additionally, the invention relates to methods for testing drugs effective in dissolving Alzheimer paired helical filaments or preventing the formation thereof.