Summary

The experiments proposed here will establish an experimental template to study potential disease modifiers, their roles in modulating Alzheimer's disease (AD) like pathologies and their use in the future design of potential AD therapeutics.

Project Details

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other related dementia are accompanied by changes in inflammatory markers (cytokines) in the brain. This study will observe how over-expression of specific cytokines affects amyloid beta deposition in an AD mouse model. We hypothesize that immune modulating mediators, like cytokines, play both protective and harmful roles and will help us investigate their role in promoting or reducing amyloid beta associated pathologies in AD. In addition to gaining insight into the cytokines' roles in altering the pathology, these studies may provide the rationale for development of novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of AD.