PhD defence Martine Bette Grenon

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), Anti-Aβ immunotherapy, Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)

"Amyloid-Related Imaging Abnormalities Risk in Anti-Amyloid Immunotherapy Experimental Models and Antibody Binding"

New treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remove beta-amyloid (Aβ), a protein that accumulates in the brains of people with AD. These treatments can slow disease progression but can also cause swelling and bleeding in the brain, known as ARIA. Why ARIA risk varies between patients and treatments remains unclear. This thesis investigated factors that may contribute to this risk using mouse models of AD. It examined how APOE4, the strongest common genetic risk factor for AD, is associated with Aβ accumulation, inflammation and spontaneous brain bleeding. It also characterized a mouse model that develops substantial Aβ in brain blood vessels and compared how two anti-Aβ antibodies bind to Aβ in brain tissue and blood vessels. Together, these studies provide new experimental tools and insights for investigating differences in ARIA risk. 

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