Immune system supports brain function
Description: PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Aging is associated with cognitive decline, which frequently manifests pathologically as age-related dementia. The prevalence of dementia increases remarkably with advancing age, affecting nearly one out of three people over 85, and leads to dramatically reduced quality of life. There is currently no therapy for dementia, and new therapeutic strategies are critically needed. We demonstrated that competent immune system is required for normal cognition in mice and when immune system is impaired or hypofunctioning, mice exhibit cognitive impairments. Because a decline in T cell function in aging (immunosenescence) is well described, we hypothesize that the age-associated immune decline is underlying, at least in part, the cognitive decline seen in elderly. Moreover, we propose that a severe T cell malfunction may be one of the risk factors for age- associated dementia. In this proposal we will establish the mechanisms governing T cell migration into the brain meninges, define the cells that interact with T cells in the brain meninges, and will use several approaches to boost healthy immunity and thus improve cognitive function. Our findings may have significant contribution to uncover the etiology of and develop novel therapeutic targets for age-related dementia.
Funder: National Institute on Aging
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: R01
Start date: 2009-07-01
End date: 2020-08-31
Investigator: JONATHAN KIPNIS
Institution: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Subfield: Neurology
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Funded outputs count: 54
Funder award ID: R01AG034113
OpenAlex ID: G7266027657