两性色午夜

NIH Continues Support of 两性色午夜 Alzheimer鈥檚 Researcher With New Two-Year Grant

Once it begins, Alzheimer鈥檚 disease progresses systematically and aggressively, attacking victims on multiple fronts. But scientists studying the disease operate the same way 鈥 like 两性色午夜 University鈥檚 own Gemma Casadesus Smith, Ph.D.

Since 2016, Casadesus Smith, professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, has received more than $2.7 million in funding from the  (NIH) to study the causes of Alzheimer鈥檚 and identify models for better pharmacological treatments.

A new two-year, $224,500 project, titled 鈥淐haracterization of transcriptome changes in diet-induced progression to METS/T2D to identify earliest and sex-specific neurodegenerative foci for AD development,鈥 allows her to pursue answers to some important questions that have arisen during those studies.Photo of Gemma Casadesus Smith, professor of biological sciences, 两性色午夜 University

鈥淲e know that diabetes and obesity are related to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease 鈥 diabetes is the number one risk factor other than age 鈥 and we know that if we look at an Alzheimer鈥檚 brain, we鈥檒l see changes in insulin receptors, but we don鈥檛 understand how that transition occurs,鈥 Casadesus Smith said.

Using data and material from her ongoing study of a drug designed to prevent formation of amylin plaques 鈥 one suspected contributing factor to Alzheimer鈥檚 development 鈥 Casadesus Smith will use gene sequencing technology to better understand the differences in Alzheimer鈥檚 progression in males and females, and identify genetic changes from the earliest point of metabolic dysfunction to the onset of Alzheimer鈥檚.

Her ongoing studies with rodent models have shown a clear link between a high-fat diet and earlier appearance of Alzheimer鈥檚 markers in the brain. Working with Helen Piontkivska, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences who specializes in bioinformatics and medical genomics, especially large-scale analysis of genomic sequences, Casadesus Smith will run brain tissue samples through RNA sequencing to show changes in each individual gene at each stage of transition.

鈥淲e will be able to identify the transcriptional targets within the brain that change early on in states of metabolic stress, and by looking at those, it may give us an idea of early foci that link diseases of metabolism such as diabetes to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease development,鈥 she said.

The study also seeks to identify the differences in Alzheimer鈥檚 pathology between males and females. While males are at higher risk for metabolic dysfunction like obesity and diabetes than females, when females develop those conditions, they are at higher risk of developing cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer鈥檚 than males.

Casadesus Smith said she is hopeful the short study will yield enough data to advance to a larger funded project.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be able to piece together the transcriptional changes with what we see in the brain, in terms of pathology and metabolism,鈥 she said. 鈥淗opefully we will be able to identify specific proteins or receptors or changes that then can be looked at in a larger study and pursued in a hypothesis-based manner.鈥

For more information about Casadesus Smith, visit www.kent.edu/biology/profile/gemma-casadesus-smith.

For more information about 两性色午夜鈥檚 Department of Biological Sciences, visit www.kent.edu/biology.

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Media Contacts:
Dan Pompili, dpompili@kent.edu, 330-672-0731
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595

POSTED: Thursday, October 17, 2019 09:20 AM
Updated: Friday, December 9, 2022 09:12 AM
WRITTEN BY:
Dan Pompili