Identification of genetic and epigenetic factors that confer resistance to the development of dementia.

Project information

The project “Identification of genetic and epigenetic factors that confer resistance to the development of dementia” belongs to the Gene Therapy in Neurological Diseases research group, whose principal investigator is Dr. Ana García Osta.

Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are characteristic lesions of dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there are individuals who, despite manifesting these lesions, show normal cognitive function. In fact, recent studies of neuroimaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers have shown that amyloid accumulation occurs in approximately 25 to 50% of cognitively normal individuals over 65 years of age. Recent data from our laboratory have shown that some animal models of AD (14- to 16-month-old Tg2576 mice) maintain intact memory on the Morris water maze (MWM) test despite having severe amyloid pathology.

These results lead us to the hypothesis that a different gene expression profile and/or epigenetic factors could confer resistance to dementia to a certain population of individuals despite showing typical AD lesions.

It would be interesting to identify such factors to lead us to identify new therapeutic targets to prevent or delay AD. Thus, in this project we will study the molecular mechanisms and/or underlying pathways that confer resistance to dementia in aged mice of the Tg2576 line expressing neuropathological markers of AD. The use of transgenic mice bred under the same conditions eliminates environmental factors such as diet, exercise or remaining mentally active, which may play a role in disease onset.

Overall, this study may help to understand why some people develop Alzheimer's while others do not, and may facilitate the identification of new biomarkers of disease progression or new targets to prevent or treat the disease.

The project is 50% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the 2014-2020 ERDF Operational Program of Navarra. European Union. European Regional Development Fund. A way of doing Europe”.

• Convocation: Proyectos de InvIdentificación de factores genéticos y epigeneticos que confieren resistencia al desarrollo de demencia
• Reference: 67/2017
• Duration: 3 años
• Start date: December 15, 2017
• End date: December 14, 2020
• Funder: Comisión Europea
• Grant: 90.000 €
• Nature of project: European