# Intranasal TIDM peptide for tauopathy

> **NIH NIH R21** · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $392,500

## Abstract

Effective reduction of aggregated tau from the brain parenchyma is expected to reduce the development and
progression of both sporadic and familial AD, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), frontotemporal dementia
(FTD), and other tauopathies. However, pathways for lowering aggregated tau from the brain are poorly
understood. Neuroinflammation is another hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders and recently it has been
shown that the progression of phospho-tau pathology is driven by microglia and that microglial activation
forms the crucial link between tau aggregation and brain damage. Here, we want to test a novel hypothesis that
intranasal administration of wild type TLR2-interacting domain of MyD88 (wtTIDM) peptide suppresses
microglial inflammation (Specific aim I) and decreases tauopathy (Specific aim II) in P301S transgenic mice
via TLR2. A positive outcome of this cutting-edge R21 grant proposal will delineate a new crosstalk between
TLR2 and tauopathy and describe if selective targeting of activated status of TLR2 by wtTIDM peptide reduces
tangle pathology, highlighting the discovery of a prospective intranasal agent to reduce tau pathology in AD,
PSP, FTD, and other tauopathies.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10059127
- **Project number:** 1R21AG069229-01
- **Recipient organization:** RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** KALIPADA PAHAN
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $392,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10059127

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10059127, Intranasal TIDM peptide for tauopathy (1R21AG069229-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10059127. Licensed CC0.

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