Peptide-Based Vaccines for Neurodegenerative Diseases: Recent Endeavors and Future Perspectives

Abstract

The development of peptide-based vaccines for treating human neurodegenerative diseases has been the eventual aim of many research endeavors, although no active immunotherapies have been approved for clinical use till now. A typical example of such endeavors is the effort to develop vaccines for Alzheimer's disease based on the beta-amyloid peptide, which continues to be intensively investigated despite previous setbacks. In this paper, recent developments in peptide-based vaccines which target beta-amyloid as well as tau protein and α-synuclein are presented. Particular focus has been directed toward peptide epitopes and formulation systems selected/developed and employed to enhance vaccine efficacy and safety. Results from both, human clinical trials and animal preclinical studies conducted mainly in transgenic mice have been included. Future perspectives on the topic are also briefly discussed.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; animal preclinical studies; beta-amyloid peptide; clinical trials; neurodegenerative diseases; peptide epitopes; tau protein; vaccine formulation; vaccines; α-synuclein.