Untangling Alzheimer’s Disease: Identification Of Early Events Contributing To Pathogenesis
Speaker
Dr. Ramon VelazquezLocation
Sage Center, Psychology 1312Info
While Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is predominantly diagnosed late in life, research suggests that brain changes associated with this disorder occur decades before. The goal of the Velazquez Lab at Arizona State University's Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center is to identify the early events that trigger the progression of AD. Dr. Velazquez will first present his team’s recent discovery of a newly identified protein, the retinoblastoma binding protein 7 (Rbbp7), and its role against tau acetylation, an early pathological event in AD
and the related tauopathies. He will also present data showing that rescuing Rbbp7 levels can reduce tau acetylation and phosphorylation, ameliorating subsequent neuronal loss. Dr. Velazquez will then discuss new data on how adulthood dietary deficiency (as seen in the US human population) of an essential nutrient, choline, dysregulates various peripheral body functions and exacerbates neuropathology. Unbiased proteomic data analysis of a key brain region affected in AD from choline-deficient mice will be presented. Lastly, Dr. Velazquez will discuss (1) future directions to further identify proteins that interact with Rbbp7 to facilitate drug discovery efforts against tau pathogenesis and (2) how future examination of proteins altered by choline deficiency may provide insight into pathologies within other neurodegenerative disorders.
