{"id":234055,"date":"2026-01-15T05:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/234055\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T05:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:19:11","slug":"scientists-identify-target-to-treat-devastating-brain-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/234055\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists identify target to treat devastating brain disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Eric<\/p>\n

Using near-atomic imaging, OHSU researchers mapped where disease-associated autoantibodies bind to the extracellular domain of the NMDA receptor. The highlighted region \u2014 colored yellow through red, based on how frequently it is targeted \u2014 reveals small areas of the receptor recognized by autoantibodies in both mice and people with anti-NMDAR encephalitis, making it a promising target for future treatments. (OHSU\/Christine Torres Hicks)<\/p>\n

Scientists have identified a promising target for treatment of a devastating autoimmune disease affecting the brain.<\/p>\n

The discovery could lead to the development of new therapies for a disease triggered by an attack on one of the key neurotransmitter receptors in the brain, the NMDA receptor. It also raises the potential for a blood test to detect a signal of the condition and enable earlier treatment with existing therapies.<\/p>\n

The study from Oregon Health & Science University published today<\/a> in the journal Science Advances.<\/p>\n

The condition may be best known by the bestselling autobiography and 2016 motion picture, \u201cBrain on Fire.\u201d<\/a> The condition is considered a rare disorder affecting about one in 1 million people annually, predominantly people in their 20s and 30s.<\/p>\n

The condition is triggered by an autoimmune attack on the brain\u2019s NMDA receptor, mediated in part by anti-NMDA receptor autoantibodies, and is characterized by intellectual changes, severe memory loss, seizures and even death.<\/p>\n

\"Junhoe<\/p>\n

Junhoe Kim, Ph.D. (OHSU)<\/p>\n

In the study published today, researchers identified specific sites on a subunit of the NMDA receptor that, if they could be blocked, may potentially reverse the progression of the disease. Lead author Junhoe Kim, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Gouaux lab in the OHSU Vollum Institute, examined anti-NMDA receptor autoantibodies from a mouse model that OHSU researchers previously engineered for the purpose<\/a>. He then compared it with images from the same autoantibodies isolated from people affected by the disease.<\/p>\n

The location of the binding sites in the mouse model matched those in people afflicted with the condition.<\/p>\n

\"Eric<\/p>\n

Eric Gouaux, Ph.D. (OHSU)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have really solid evidence because the autoantibody binding sites that Junhoe identified overlap with those from people,\u201d said senior author Eric Gouaux, Ph.D., senior scientist at the OHSU Vollum Institute<\/a> and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. \u201cWe\u2019re focused now on this area as literally a hot spot for the interaction that underpins at least one component of the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim said researchers knew generally where to look.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom previous studies, people knew where the antibodies might bind,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we collected the entire native autoimmune antibody panel from a mouse model with the disease, and we elucidated where specifically they bind onto the receptor.\u201d<\/p>\n

They made the discovery using near-atomic imaging at the Pacific Northwest Cryo-EM Center<\/a>, housed at OHSU\u2019s South Waterfront campus and one of three national centers for the state-of-the art imaging technology. It\u2019s operated jointly by OHSU and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and funded by the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly all of the antibodies bound to a single domain of the receptor that happens to be the part of the receptor that\u2019s simplest to target,\u201d Gouaux said. \u201cIt\u2019s a super exciting result, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Gary Westbrook, M.D. (OHSU)<\/p>\n

Co-author Gary Westbrook, M.D., a neurologist and senior scientist in the OHSU Vollum Institute, said the discovery may clear the way for drug companies to develop a therapeutic agent that could specifically target the binding sites causing the disease. Current therapies involving immunosuppression don\u2019t always work and patients can relapse, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore specific approaches are definitely needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In addition to Kim, Gouaux and Westbrook, co-authors included Farzad Jalali-Yazdi, Ph.D., and Brian Jones, Ph.D., of OHSU.<\/p>\n

Support for the research was provided by the Nation Research Foundation of Korea, award RS202400334731; and the National Institutes of Health, grant awards F32MH115595, R01NS117371 and R01NS038631, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Jennifer and Bernard LaCroute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.<\/p>\n

All research involving animal subjects at OHSU must be reviewed and approved by the university\u2019s\u00a0Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee<\/a>\u00a0(IACUC). The IACUC\u2019s priority is to ensure the health and safety of animal research subjects. The IACUC also reviews procedures to ensure the health and safety of the people who work with the animals. The IACUC conducts a rigorous review\u00a0of\u00a0all animal research proposals to ensure they demonstrate scientific value and justify the use of live animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Using near-atomic imaging, OHSU researchers mapped where disease-associated autoantibodies bind to the extracellular domain of the NMDA receptor.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[14631,138671,134,111,139,69,117119,1518],"class_list":["post-234055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-brain-disease","tag-brain-on-fire","tag-health","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oregon-health-amp-science-university-ohsu","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}