Neurodegeneration
Organizer: Ana Cristina Rego
This course will focus on the latest research in the field of neurodegeneration centering on the main neurodegenerative disorders, namely Alzheimer’s, prion, Parkinson’s and polyglutamine expansion diseases, which affect selective brain regions and lead to dementia. The molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the pathogenic processes linked to these diseases remain to be elucidated and there is currently no cure. Thus, the course will promote the understanding of basic mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and cover novel detection methods and therapies that are under development to treat these devastating disorders.
The course programme can be found here.
Work groups for the article presentation sessions:
Group 1 – Ana Isabel Eufrásio (PhD stud), Ana Catarina Bonifácio, Vera Lúcia Baptista & Tânia Perestrelo.
Paper 1: Southwell AL, Ko J, Patterson PH (2009) Intrabody gene therapy ameliorates motor, cognitive, and neuropathological symptoms in multiple mouse models of Huntington's disease. J Neurosci. 29(43): 13589-13602.
Group 2 – Sónia Raquel Batista (PhD stud), Dominique Fernandes, Deolinda Santinha & Luís Leitão.
Paper 2: Menzies FM, Huebener J, Renna M, Bonin M, Riess O, Rubinsztein DC (2010) Autophagy induction reduces mutant ataxin-3 levels and toxicity in a mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. Brain 133(Pt 1): 93-104.
Group 3 – Vítor Hugo Martins (PhD stud), Maria Conceição Pereira & Bethsabee Proux-Guerineau.
Paper 3: Unni VK, Weissman TA, Rockenstein E, Masliah E, McLean PJ, Hyman BT (2010) In vivo imaging of alpha-synuclein in mouse cortex demonstrates stable expression and differential subcellular compartment mobility. PLoS One 5(5): e10589.
Group 4 – Liliana Letra (PhD stud), Sandra Isabel Anjo, Nuno Dinis Alves & Maria João Leitão.
Paper 4: Wang JM, Singh C, Liu L, Irwin RW, Chen S, Chung EJ, Thompson RF, Brinton RD (2010) Allopregnanolone reverses neurogenic and cognitive deficits in mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 107(14): 6498-6503.
Support Material
Abou-Sleiman et al (Nat-Rev,06) PD,Mito
Brundin et al(Nature-10)_prion-like aggregates
Gil & Rego, 2008, EJN (review)
Gil and Rego, 2008, EJN_vol28,pg2156(Corrigendum)
Querfurth & La Ferla(N.Engl.J.Med-10)_AD review