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Drug development for Alzheimer's disease targeting microglial dysfunction

Description: We study the molecular mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and are trying to develop novel therapy for AD. Accumulation of activated microglia in and around senile plaques has been demonstrated in autopsied brains from AD patients, and considered to modulate amyloid β clearances and inflammation. Our research suggested that microglial activation changes with progression of AD expressing several makers molecule. Activated microglia in the advanced stage of AD model showed higher expression levels of CD14. On the other hands, anti-inflammatory factor, SOCS3, is also up regulated in microglia in advanced AD model. We demonstrated therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) using AD model mice. We showed that MSC treatment enhanced amyloid beta clearance by microglia.

Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Amount: ¥3,900,000

Funding type: fellowship

Funder scheme: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)

Start date: 2016-04-01

End date: 2020-03-31

Investigator: Naotoshi Iwahara

Institution: Sapporo Medical University

Topic: Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Subfield: Neurology

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences