The UK DRI at Edinburgh aims to elucidate the interactions within and between the brain vasculature, neurons, macroglia and microglia which control the trajectory of neurodegenerative disorders leading to dementia, and exploit this knowledge for therapeutic benefit. The role that these different cell types play in dementia initiation and progression is under researched compared to the pathway of misfolded proteins leading to neurodegeneration.
The expert team seeks to understand mechanistically how specialised brain cells work together to keeps a brain’s neuronal circuits functional over many decades, and moreover, what goes wrong to trigger neurodegenerative disease. An important aspect of the Centre’s work is to understand how the brains’ neurons, macroglia, microglia and vascular cells influence each other’s properties during disease initiation and progression. The research teams employ diverse approaches, from animal and human stem cells models through to human imaging and experimental medicine
The Centre’s work comprises four inter-related themes:
- Macroglia in neuroprotection and neurotoxicity
- Cerebrovascular and metabolic dysfunction
- Inflammation and immunomodulation
- Synapses and neurons as effectors of dysfunctional neuro-glio-vascular systems
Neurofibrillary tangle in post-mortem Alzheimer’s brain. Credit: Spires-Jones Lab, UK DRI at Edinburgh
Labs
