Genome-wide analysis of reactive astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease and other two types of central nervous system injury

• Grant number: 14/10312-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: August 11, 2014
• End date: August 10, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Beatriz de Oliveira Monteiro
• Grantee: Daisyléa de Souza Paiva
• Supervisor: Magdalena Götz
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU Munich), Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/09572-4 - Effect of stem cell overexpressing NGF transplantation in double transgenic model of Alzheimer's Disease, BP.DD

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive impairment and emotional disturbance resulted from selective neuronal dysfunction and synaptic loss. In addition to neuronal alterations and amyloid-beta deposition, the astrocytes - a type of glial cell widely found in central nervous system- become reactive in a state called astrogliosis. The nature of this reaction differs according to the type of injury (invasive or noninvasive). The first fate-mapping analysis of astrocytes in injuried brain demonstrated that reactive glial cells acquire stem cell properties after injury. This stem cell response of reactive glia increases under acute injury conditions, such as stab wounding and focal ischemia, although it is reduced in chronic injury, e.g. models of amyloidosis. In spite of the recent advances on understanding the molecular characteristics of reactive astrocytes, there are several fundamental questions that still should be addressed by analyzing gene profiling. It includes comparing regional astrocyte heterogeneity, understanding their reaction to injury and investigating functional roles of reactive astrogliosis. Additionally, investigating the gene expression pattern of astrocytes can be helpful to understand the endogenous repair mechanisms elicited by different types of Central Nervous System injury. (AU)