FunGen-AD researcher Alison Goate was part of a team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai that used genetic and genomic tools to uncover new information about regulators of the macrophage transcriptomic state. These discoveries could provide therapeutic targets for modulating macrophage function in Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
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Read news coverage of research funded by FunGen-AD.
FunGen AD-supported stem cell research suggests new alternative treatment for Alzheimer’s disease
Genetic studies have linked variations of the SORL1 gene to both early- and late-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the exact link between damaged SORL1 genes and AD was not previously known. To further understand the role of SORL1 in AD, a team of researchers—including FunGen-AD grantee Philip L. De Jager—analyzed stem cells from patients with AD.
Read moreNew optical techniques shed light on protein aggregation
FunGen-AD grantee Peter St George-Hyslop was part of a collaboration among researchers from the University of Sydney, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and Columbia University that developed new optical methods to observe development of pathological protein aggregates in cells.
Read moreProteomic analysis could be used to distinguish sporadic and genetic Alzheimer’s disease
FunGen-AD investigator Carlos Cruchaga and a team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis analyzed proteins in brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and plasma samples from patients with sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) or autosomal dominant AD, TREM2 variant carriers, and healthy individuals.
Read moreGene accessibility may explain why Alzheimer’s risk from APOE4 differs by ancestry, according to FunGen-AD-supported research
Researchers at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, including FunGen-AD researchers Derek Dykxhoorn, Anthony Griswold, Jeffery Vance, and Juan Young, recently published a study showing differences in chromatin accessibility between ancestries.
Read moreBlood tests may help Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis in low-resource environments, says FunGen-AD–supported study
FunGen-AD researcher Richard Mayeux is part of a Columbia University research team investigating blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease. A recent study of older adults found that, when used in combination with memory tests, these blood tests could help physicians correctly identify patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Read moreFunGen-AD–supported study finds proteins in the blood that link COVID-19 to Alzheimer’s disease and may help predict COVID-19 severity
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied blood plasma samples from COVID-19 patients and identified proteins that may help predict which patients may need to be placed on ventilators to breathe and which are most likely to die of the virus.
Read moreFunGen-AD-funded research finds rejuvenated immune cells can improve clearance of toxic waste from brain
FunGen-AD researcher Oscar Harari was part of a team that found a new way to improve waste clearance from the brain that could help treat or prevent neurodegenerative conditions. Immune cells surrounding the brain that influence how efficiently waste is swept out of the brain are impaired in old mice and in people and mice with Alzheimer’s disease.
Read moreNew biomarker of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease identified in study supported by FunGen-AD
FunGen-AD investigator Carlos Cruchaga was part of a team that identified a unique biomarker that could lead to new diagnostic tests able to detect Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear. Levels of this protein in cerebrospinal fluid can reliably detect damage to the cells lining tiny blood vessels in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease. Blood vessel injury is an important contributor to cognitive impairment in even the earliest presymptomatic stages of the disease.
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