Name of Fellow


Dr Oyinkansola Adesakin ( nee Sofola)

Institution


Funder


Alzheimer's Society

Contact information of fellow


Country


United Kingdom

Title of project/programme


Protection against Abeta toxicity by lithium: investigation of the role of non-canonical, wnt-mediated changes in neurogenesis’.

Source of funding information


Alzheimer's Society

Total sum awarded (Euro)


€ 294,149

Start date of award


01/09/13

Total duration of award in years


3.0

The project/programme is most relevant to:


Alzheimer's disease & other dementias

Keywords


Research Abstract


Alzheimer’s disease is a disease of ageing, suggesting that the ageing nervous system is more susceptible to protein toxicity, possibly in part because of decreased adult neurogenesis (production of new neurons). Alterations in neurogenesis occur before the plaques and tangles are present in AD; therefore, understanding the mechanisms involved could be key for early, preventative therapeutic intervention.

As well as lithium, neurogenesis is affected by the wnt pathway, an important signaling pathway; the non-canonical wnt pathway modulates A? neurotoxicity (unpublished work). The question addressed in this project is whether lithium ameliorates A? toxicity through changes in neurogenesis mediated by the non-canonical wnt signaling:

1) We shall assess effects of lithium on gliogenesis in a fruit fly Drosophila model of AD. Also, we shall express A? peptide in human hippocampal cell lines and test for effects of lithium on cell toxicity, neurogenesis and gliogenesis.

2) We shall determine whether components of the non-canonical wnt pathway affect A? toxicity, by assessing survival, behaviour and gliogenesis in the Drosophila AD model; and cell toxicity, gliogenesis and neurogenesis in the cell lines.

3) We shall determine if the effects of lithium and the non-canonical wnt pathway are synergistic, additive or antagonistic through epistatic interactions.

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