Advancements in Immunity and Dementia Research: Highlights from the 2023 AAIC Advancements: Immunity Conference

Courtney M Kloske¹, Simin Mahinrad¹, Christopher J Barnum², Andre F Batista³, Elizabeth M Bradshaw⁴, Brittany Butts⁵, Maria C Carrillo¹, Paramita Chakrabarty⁶, Xiaoying Chen⁷, Suzanne Craft⁸, Sandro Da Mesquita⁹, Luke C Dabin^{10

11}, Davangere Devanand¹², Violeta Duran-Laforet¹³, Wassim Elyaman^{14

15}, Elizabeth E Evans¹⁶, Patricia Fitzgerald-Bocarsly¹⁷, Kate E Foley¹⁸, Ashley S Harms¹⁹, Michael T Heneka^{20

21}, Soyon Hong²², Yu-Wen A Huang²³, Stephanie Jackvony²⁴, Laijun Lai²⁵, Yann Le Guen^{26

27}, Cynthia A Lemere^{28

29}, Shane A Liddelow³⁰, Alfonso Martin-Peña³¹, Anna G Orr²⁴, Francisco J Quintana^{3

32

33}, Grace D Ramey^{34

35}, Jessica E Rexach³⁶, Stacey J S Rizzo³⁷, Claire Sexton¹, Alice S Tang^{35

38}, Jose G Torrellas³⁹, Andy P Tsai^{40

41}, Lynn van Olst⁴², Keenan A Walker⁴³, Whitney Wharton⁴⁴, Malú Gámez Tansey⁴⁵, Donna M Wilcock¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
² INmune Bio, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
³ Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurology, The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center for Research on Neurodegeneration, Division of Translational Neurobiology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
⁵ Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁶ Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁸ Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
⁹ Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
¹¹ Stark Neuroscience Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
¹² Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹³ Department of Neurobiology, Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Neurology, Division of Translational Neurobiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁵ The Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁶ Vaccinex, Inc, Rochester, New York, USA.
¹⁷ Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Neurology, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
²⁰ Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belval, Luxembourg.
²¹ Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, North Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
²² UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
²³ Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
²⁴ Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
²⁵ University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
²⁶ Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
²⁷ Department of Medicine, Quantitative Sciences Unit, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
²⁸ Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
²⁹ Departments of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³⁰ Departments of Neuroscience & Physiology and Ophthalmology, Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
³¹ Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
³² Gene Lay Institute for Immunology and Inflammation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³³ The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³⁴ Biological and Medical Informatics PhD Program, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
³⁵ Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
³⁶ Program in Neurogenetics, Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³⁷ Aging Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
³⁸ Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco, California, USA.
³⁹ Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
⁴⁰ Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
⁴¹ Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
⁴² The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁴³ Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging (NIA) Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴⁴ School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁴⁵ Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida College of Medicine, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

PMID: 39692624
PMCID: PMC11772715
DOI: 10.1002/alz.14291

Review

Advancements in Immunity and Dementia Research: Highlights from the 2023 AAIC Advancements: Immunity Conference

Courtney M Kloske et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Jan.

. 2025 Jan;21(1):e14291.

doi: 10.1002/alz.14291. Epub 2024 Dec 18.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
² INmune Bio, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
³ Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurology, The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center for Research on Neurodegeneration, Division of Translational Neurobiology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
⁵ Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁶ Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁸ Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
⁹ Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
¹¹ Stark Neuroscience Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
¹² Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹³ Department of Neurobiology, Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Neurology, Division of Translational Neurobiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁵ The Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁶ Vaccinex, Inc, Rochester, New York, USA.
¹⁷ Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Neurology, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
²⁰ Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belval, Luxembourg.
²¹ Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, North Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
²² UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
²³ Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
²⁴ Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
²⁵ University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
²⁶ Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
²⁷ Department of Medicine, Quantitative Sciences Unit, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
²⁸ Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
²⁹ Departments of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³⁰ Departments of Neuroscience & Physiology and Ophthalmology, Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
³¹ Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
³² Gene Lay Institute for Immunology and Inflammation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³³ The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³⁴ Biological and Medical Informatics PhD Program, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
³⁵ Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
³⁶ Program in Neurogenetics, Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³⁷ Aging Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
³⁸ Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco, California, USA.
³⁹ Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
⁴⁰ Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
⁴¹ Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
⁴² The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁴³ Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging (NIA) Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴⁴ School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁴⁵ Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida College of Medicine, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

PMID: 39692624
PMCID: PMC11772715
DOI: 10.1002/alz.14291

Abstract

The immune system is a key player in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. While brain resident immune cell-mediated neuroinflammation and peripheral immune cell (eg, T cell) infiltration into the brain have been shown to significantly contribute to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, the nature and extent of immune responses in the brain in the context of AD and related dementias (ADRD) remain unclear. Furthermore, the roles of the peripheral immune system in driving ADRD pathology remain incompletely elucidated. In March of 2023, the Alzheimer's Association convened the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), Advancements: Immunity, to discuss the roles of the immune system in ADRD. A wide range of topics were discussed, such as animal models that replicate human pathology, immune-related biomarkers and clinical trials, and lessons from other fields describing immune responses in neurodegeneration. This manuscript presents highlights from the conference and outlines avenues for future research on the roles of immunity in neurodegenerative disorders. HIGHLIGHTS: The immune system plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. The immune system exerts numerous effects throughout the brain on amyloid-beta, tau, and other pathways. The 2023 AAIC, Advancements: Immunity, encouraged discussions and collaborations on understanding the role of the immune system.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; immunity; inflammation; microglia; therapeutics.

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Conflict of interest statement

C. M. Kloske is an employee of the Alzheimer's Association. S. Mahinrad is an employee of the Alzheimer's Association. C. J. Barnum is an employee of INmune Bio, Inc. A. F. Batista has nothing to disclose. E. M. Bradshaw has nothing to disclose. B. Butts has nothing to disclose. M. C. Carrillo is an employee of the Alzheimer's Association. P. Chakrabarty has nothing to disclose. X. Chen has nothing to disclose. S. Craft has served as a Scientific Advisory Board member for T3D Therapeutics, Inc. and for the Neurodegeneration Consortium. S. Da Mesquita was listed as an inventor in patent applications concerning meningeal lymphatic function in neurological diseases. L. C. Dabin has nothing to disclose. D. Devand has nothing to disclose. V. Duran‐Laforet has nothing to disclose. W. Elyamn has nothing to disclose. E. E. Evans is an employee and stockholder, Vaccinex, Inc. P. Fitzgerald‐Bocarsly has nothing to disclose. K. E. Foley has nothing to disclose. A. S. Harms has nothing to disclose. M. T. Henea has nothing to disclose. S. Hong has acted as a paid consultant to Eisai Ltd, Novo Nordisk, and Alnylam; receives research funding from AstraZeneca and Eisai Ltd; and has a collaborative project with Ionis Ltd. Y. A. Huang has nothing to disclose. S. Jackvony has nothing to disclose. L. Lai has nothing to disclose. Y. Le Guen has nothing to disclose. C. Lemere has nothing to disclose. S. A. Liddelow maintains a financial interest in AstronauTx Ltd and Synapticure. A. Martín‐Peña has nothing to disclose. A. G. Orr has nothing to disclose. F. J. Quintana has nothing to disclose. G. D. Ramey has nothing to disclose. J. E. Rexach has nothing to disclose. S. J. S. Rizzo has served as a consultant for Hager Biosciences, Genprex, Inc., and Sage Therapeutics, and holds shares in Momentum Biosciences. C. Sexton is an employee of the Alzheimer's Association. A. S. Tang has nothing to disclose. J. G. Torrelas has nothing to disclose. A. P. Tsai has nothing to disclose. L. Van Olst has nothing to disclose. K. A. Walker has nothing to disclose. W. Wharton has nothing to disclose. M. G. Tansey is a co‐inventor on the DN‐TNF (XPro1595) patent and a consultant to INmune Bio. which is developing the biologic for neurological indications. M. G. Tansey is a member of the MSAG at the Alzheimer's Association. D. M. Wilcock is Editor‐in‐Chief, of Alzheimer's & Dementia. Paid services for Novo Nordisk. Travel support from ADPD and Alzheimer's Association. Author disclosures are available in the supporting information.

References

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Advancements in Immunity and Dementia Research: Highlights from the 2023 AAIC Advancements: Immunity Conference

Affiliations

Advancements in Immunity and Dementia Research: Highlights from the 2023 AAIC Advancements: Immunity Conference

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical