I would like to cordially invite you to the next Nencki Institute Seminar, which will take place on Thursday 27^th of October at 3pm in the CN hall. We will host dr Amaia Arranz Mendiguren, head of the Laboratory of Humanized Models of Disease at the Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience.

Dr Arranz will give a lecture entitled: Generation of chimeric models to study Alzheimer’s disease.

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder of the elderly. The recurrent pathological hallmarks of AD found in patients are the presence of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques, the formation of neurofibrillary Tau tangles, chronic neuroinflammation and neuronal injury and loss. Rodent models of AD are widely used to study in vivo some of these hallmarks but unfortunately, they do not fully recapitulate all AD features. Human iPSC-derived neurons and glial cells are also used to model AD in vitro but these systems lack essential components present on the diseased brain. To address these challenges, we combined both in vitro and in vivo approaches and transplanted human iPSC-derived neurons and glial cells into the brain of rodent models, generating chimeric models of AD. Interestingly, human neurons and glial cells integrate efficiently into the brain of these chimeric mice and show a selective vulnerability and main pathological hallmarks of AD. On follow-up studies, we are using these chimeric models to analyze human-specific pathological features and unveil molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of AD.

The seminar will be followed by a get together.

With best regards
Aleksandra Pękowska