Effects of leptin on neurogenesis in adult mice model of Alzheimer's Disease

• Grant number: 12/24341-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: July 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Marimélia Aparecida Porcionatto
• Grantee: Michele Longoni Calió
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common dementia, characterized by the presence of extracellular senile plaques formed by ²-amyloid peptide (²A) and intracellular neurofibriallary tangles of hyperphosphorylated Tau protein. These changes lead to progressive neuronal degeneration and dysfunction, resulting in severe brain atrophy and cognitive deficits. With the discovery that neurogenesis persists in the adult mammalian brain, including brain regions affected by AD, many researches aimed to study of neural stem cells for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases in order to repair and/or prevent neuronal cell loss. It is known that leptin, a hormone secreted by adipose tissue, acts on neurogenesis, neuroprotection, and in the regulation of ²-amyloid levels of and hyperphosphorylation of Tau protein. In view of this data, the main objective of this work is to verify the effect of leptin on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells present in distinct neurogenic niches in the brain of double-transgenic Alzheimer's disease model by using immunohistochemistry and qPCR. We believe that the better understanding of the effects of leptin in the brain may lead to the early development of new therapies for treating Alzheimer's disease. (AU)