Issue Cover (December 2017)

Front cover: Protofibrils are a subset of soluble oligomeric amyloid‐β (Aβ) species, which interact with microglia, trigger Toll‐like receptor signaling, elicit cytokine transcription and expression, and are rapidly taken up by the cells. Due to the importance of this Aβ species, we sought to develop an antibody that selectively recognizes protofibrils over other Aβ species. Immunization of rabbits with isolated Aβ42 protofibrils generated a high‐titer serum with a strong affinity for Aβ42 protofibrils. The image shows an area of Aβ accumulation in a brain slice from a 15 month old APP/PS1 mouse. The brain tissue sample was immunostained with Aβ42 protofibril‐selective AbSL antiserum (green) and 4G8 monoclonal antibody (red), which is reactive to residues 17‐24 of aggregated and unaggregated Aβ. Very little colocalization (yellow) can be seen in this merged image. Notable differences were observed in the response and localization of each antibody indicating areas of Aβ pathology that are uniquely accessible by AbSL. It is hoped that development of conformationally‐selective Aβ antibodies will aid in Alzheimer's disease research, diagnostics, and potentially therapeutics.Read the full article   ‘The conformational epitope for a new Aβ42 protofibril‐selective antibody partially overlaps with the peptide N‐terminal region’ by B. A. Colvin, V. A. Rogers, J. A. Kulas, E. A. Ridgway, F. S. Amtashar, C. K. Combs and M. R. Nichols ( J. Neurochem . 2017, vol. 143(6), pp. 736–749) on doi: 10.1111/jnc.14211 Read the Editorial Highlight ‘New tool to tackle Alzheimer's disease: amyloid‐β protofibril‐selective antibody AbSL’ on doi: 10.1111/jnc.14240