Dementias, like Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia, are characterized by the progressive loss of brain cells due mostly to damage associated with aberrant protein aggregates. Two labs at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology work on understanding why this damage occurs and how it can be prevented, focusing their efforts largely on the underlying genetics of the diseases.
HudsonAlpha Faculty Investigators Nick Cochran, PhD, and Rick Myers, PhD, along with Danielle Swaney, PhD, of University of California San Francisco, were recently awarded a 5-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further study MAPT, the gene that codes for tau, one of the proteins that forms aggregates in the brain in many neurodegenerative diseases.
Cochran and Myers are both experts in gene regulation, the process by which cells control the timing, location, and amount of gene expression. Specific proteins called transcription factors bind to DNA and either recruit other proteins to activate gene expression or block the binding of necessary proteins, thus repressing gene expression.
"Gene regulation is a delicate dance. When it falters, the consequences can be catastrophic, leading to conditions like cancer and developmental disorders," says Myers. "Our journey to understand this intricate process began shortly after the Human Genome Project and continues today. Now, we're applying our expertise to the formidable challenge of neurodegenerative diseases."
The collaborative team will use cutting-edge techniques to discover controllers of MAPT expression, providing an innovative path for achieving tau reduction in the human brain.
"The potential promise of reducing tau levels in Alzheimer's and other dementias is very exciting," says Cochran, the lead investigator. "Doing our part in translating this knowledge into effective treatments for patients is our ultimate goal. We are dedicated to improving the lives of the countless individuals affected by these devastating diseases."
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AG085357.