A sugar ‐coated strategy to treat a rare neurologic disease provides a blueprint for a decoy glycan therapeutic and a potential vaccine for CoViD‐19

The present Editorial highlights a study by Aliu and colleagues, entitled “Selective inhibition of anti‐MAG IgM autoantibody binding to myelin by an antigen specific glycopolymer” published in the current issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry, in which the authors have developed a therapy directed to a highly specific target to treat a rare neurologic disease where a carbohydrate component of the myelin sheath is attacked by antibody. The targeted therapy specifically blocks the antibody from binding to a particular sugar on the myelin sheath. The authors' findings are applicable to a parallel strategy for the generation of polysaccharides similar to those pr esent in the receptor‐binding domain of CoViD‐19, which might inhibit viral adhesion to its receptor and thus lead the way toward vaccines. AbstractIn a rare neurologic disease known as IgM monoclonal gammopathy the immune system targets a sulfated trisaccharide known as the Human Natural Killer ‐1 (HNK‐1) epitope that comprises a constituent of the myelin sheath known as MAG (myelin‐associated glycoprotein). This Editorial highlights a study by Aliu and colleagues in the current issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry, in which the investigators constructed a biodegradable poly‐l‐ lysine backbone with multiple copies of this sulfated HNK‐1 trisaccharide. This decoy, poly(phenyl disodium 3‐O‐sulfo‐β‐d‐glucopyranuronate)‐(1→3)‐β‐d‐galactopyranoside, known as PPSGG, removed a...
Source: Journal of Neurochemistry - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: EDITORIAL HIGHLIGHT Source Type: research