Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, primarily due to amyloid-beta protein deposition and tau protein phosphorylation. Effectively reducing the cytotoxicity of amyloid-beta42 aggregates and tau oligomers may help slow the p...

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Main Authors: Sha Sha, Lina Ren, Xiaona Xing, Wanshu Guo, Yan Wang, Ying Li, Yunpeng Cao, Le Qu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2026-02-01
Series:Neural Regeneration Research
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-24-00846
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author Sha Sha
Lina Ren
Xiaona Xing
Wanshu Guo
Yan Wang
Ying Li
Yunpeng Cao
Le Qu
author_facet Sha Sha
Lina Ren
Xiaona Xing
Wanshu Guo
Yan Wang
Ying Li
Yunpeng Cao
Le Qu
author_sort Sha Sha
collection DOAJ
description Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, primarily due to amyloid-beta protein deposition and tau protein phosphorylation. Effectively reducing the cytotoxicity of amyloid-beta42 aggregates and tau oligomers may help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Conventional drugs, such as donepezil, can only alleviate symptoms and are not able to prevent the underlying pathological processes or cognitive decline. Currently, active and passive immunotherapies targeting amyloid-beta and tau have shown some efficacy in mice with asymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease and other transgenic animal models, attracting considerable attention. However, the clinical application of these immunotherapies demonstrated only limited efficacy before the discovery of lecanemab and donanemab. This review first discusses the advancements in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and active and passive immunotherapies targeting amyloid-beta and tau proteins. Furthermore, it reviews the advantages and disadvantages of various immunotherapies and considers their future prospects. Although some antibodies have shown promise in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, substantial clinical data are still lacking to validate their effectiveness in individuals with moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
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language English
publishDate 2026-02-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
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spelling doaj-art-4b09f30db8f042eb905bea3e6f04d9042025-08-20T02:02:01ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsNeural Regeneration Research1673-53741876-79582026-02-0121257758710.4103/NRR.NRR-D-24-00846Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s diseaseSha ShaLina RenXiaona XingWanshu GuoYan WangYing LiYunpeng CaoLe QuAlzheimer’s disease, a devastating neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, primarily due to amyloid-beta protein deposition and tau protein phosphorylation. Effectively reducing the cytotoxicity of amyloid-beta42 aggregates and tau oligomers may help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Conventional drugs, such as donepezil, can only alleviate symptoms and are not able to prevent the underlying pathological processes or cognitive decline. Currently, active and passive immunotherapies targeting amyloid-beta and tau have shown some efficacy in mice with asymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease and other transgenic animal models, attracting considerable attention. However, the clinical application of these immunotherapies demonstrated only limited efficacy before the discovery of lecanemab and donanemab. This review first discusses the advancements in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and active and passive immunotherapies targeting amyloid-beta and tau proteins. Furthermore, it reviews the advantages and disadvantages of various immunotherapies and considers their future prospects. Although some antibodies have shown promise in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, substantial clinical data are still lacking to validate their effectiveness in individuals with moderate Alzheimer’s disease.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-24-00846alzheimer’s diseaseamyloid depositsamyloid-betaantibodycognitive dysfunctiondementiaimmunotherapyoligomerpreventive immunizationtau hyperphosphorylation
spellingShingle Sha Sha
Lina Ren
Xiaona Xing
Wanshu Guo
Yan Wang
Ying Li
Yunpeng Cao
Le Qu
Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s disease
Neural Regeneration Research
alzheimer’s disease
amyloid deposits
amyloid-beta
antibody
cognitive dysfunction
dementia
immunotherapy
oligomer
preventive immunization
tau hyperphosphorylation
title Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s disease
title_full Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s disease
title_fullStr Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s disease
title_full_unstemmed Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s disease
title_short Recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta and tauopathies in Alzheimer’s disease
title_sort recent advances in immunotherapy targeting amyloid beta and tauopathies in alzheimer s disease
topic alzheimer’s disease
amyloid deposits
amyloid-beta
antibody
cognitive dysfunction
dementia
immunotherapy
oligomer
preventive immunization
tau hyperphosphorylation
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-24-00846
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