Mario Mezler, Moeller A, Mueller BK, Meyer AH, Schmidt MK, Ghayur T, Barlow E, Labkovsky B, Devanarayan V, Norreel JC and Mueller R
An insult to the mammalian spinal cord often results in persistent functional deficits. Proteins in CNS myelin are important determinants of this situation as they inhibit neurite growth. Among those proteins Nogo-A, oligodendrocyte myelin glycoprotein (OMgp), and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) all bind to the neuronal Nogo-66 receptor (NgR1) and thereby block neuronal regeneration after injury. Neutralizing the interaction between the inhibitory ligands and NgR1 may alleviate the inhibition and therefore result in increased recovery after injury. Thus, antibodies neutralizing ligand/receptor interaction might have therapeutic value.
From a set of 300 monoclonal anti-NgR1 antibodies one anti-NgR1 ligand blocking antibody (mAb50) was selected for in vivo studies. mAb50 binds with high affinity (below 100 pM) to human and rat NgR1, competes for binding of a ligand peptide (derived from Nogo-A: Nogo66) to the isolated NgR1 protein and cellular NgR1, and reduces the inhibitory effects of Nogo66 on neurite outgrowth in differentiated human NTera2 cells and rat dorsal root ganglion neurons. In a rat spinal cord hemisection model mAb50 enhanced functional locomotor recovery. These data suggest that neutralization of NgR1 activity with an antibody may be a valuable strategy to neutralize neurite outgrowth inhibition in the mammalian CNS. Thus anti-NgR1 antibodies are a potential approach for the treatment of spinal cord injury and even neurodegenerative diseases.
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