Dr Jill Fowler
Alzheimer's Society
United Kingdom
Do inflammatory mechanisms cause Alzheimers disease following brain injury?
Alzheimer's Society
252,096
08/05/10
2.6
Alzheimer's disease & other dementias
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is proposed to play a critical role in the development of
Alzheimers Disease. We have established in vivo models of brain injury that cause cognitive
deficits and accelerate amyloid pathology. This project will build on this work to elucidate the
mechanisms by which brain injury can lead to Alzheimers Disease. The following hypothesis
will be tested: Chronic inflammation caused by mild TBI leads to amyloid and tau pathology
and cognitive deficits.
We will address this hypothesis by studying the effects of mild TBI in mouse models of
Alzheimers disease and human post mortem tissue. We will exploit emerging, innovative
proteomic technology to identify key protein changes following brain injury. The following
aims will be investigated:
(1) To identify the key proteins and signalling pathways involved in inflammation in
human brain injury and following in vivo brain injury in AD mouse models.
(2) To determine if a novel, multi-functional anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant treatment
can attenuate amyloid and tau pathology and cognitive decline following brain injury
in AD mouse models