Repeated traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in soldiers and military personnel may cause behavioral, neurological, and cognitive effects and result in dementia. There may be currently no treatment for that form of dementia, but a $308,000 grant from the USA Department of Defense goals to assist researchers on the University of Tennessee Health Science Center find one.

TBI can result in the event of frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), a progressive process marked by atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes. FTD is probably the most common causes of dementia in people under the age of 65.

Principal investigator Mohammad Moshahid Khan, PhD, associate professor within the Department of Neurology, and co-investigator Tayebeh Pourmotabbed, PhD, professor within the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Biochemistry, are working on a project to seek out the primary therapeutic intervention to forestall frontotemporal dementia or slow its progression in a mouse model linked with the condition.

The team is aiming to make use of a novel gene therapy called DNAzymes to focus on pathological tau aggregates, which cause frontotemporal dementia and its resulting cognitive impairment and progressive neuropathological symptoms. The team is examining the effective dose, frequency, and duration of treatment in addition to its potential in reducing neurodegeneration and behavioral deficits in mice.

Our preliminary data suggest that DNAzyme is a novel therapeutic approach and has an important potential for stopping the buildup of pathological tau. The outcomes of this proposal can be foundational for future studies examining the clinical use of DNAzyme for other neurological diseases related to traumatic brain injury and other tauopathies.”

Dr. Mohammad Moshahid Khan, PhD, associate professor within the Department of Neurology

“DNAzyme is a strong gene therapy technique that will be used to forestall production of proteins related to diseases, like tau protein in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia,” Dr. Pourmotabbed said. “We’ve used DNAzyme as a possible therapy for breast cancer, glioma, and Huntington’s disease in preclinical animal models with great success. Hopefully, with using DNAzyme technology, we might give you the option to cut back the danger of dementia after traumatic brain injury in veterans and other individuals that take care of this debilitating disease.”

Source:

University of Tennessee Health Science Center