![Studying Roundworms to Treat Alzheimer's]()
Humans are not the only organisms faced with age-related declines in thinking ability and memory. The same problems afflict the roundworm C. elegans. The NIH has awarded Einstein scientists a five-year, $3.7 million grant to seek new Alzheimer’s treatments by combining roundworm and human research. Using tools for studying memory in worms and identifying gene expression changes in worm neurons, the researchers will identify genes that change with age and are risk factors for Alzheimer’s. They’ll combine those results with findings from human genome-wide association studies, which indicate that changes in gene regulation are responsible for cases of heightened genetic risk for Alzheimer’s. This approach will identify gene regulatory networks shared by humans and worms and may provide new targets for Alzheimer’s drugs. The Einstein principal investigator is Yousin Suh, Ph.D., professor in the departments of genetics, of ophthalmology & visual sciences, and of medicine at Einstein. (1RF1AG057341)
Posted on: Thursday, November 30, 2017