Buck professor Julie Andersen, PhD, has received
$200,000 from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to study a
process critical to brain aging in the context of Parkinson’s disease. The goal
is to explore and identify a new therapeutic target for the incurable and
progressive neurological disorder that affects motor function and causes a variety
of non-motor symptoms including anxiety and depression, autonomic dysfunction
and cognitive decline.
“Age is the greatest risk factor for Parkinson’s, and
we look forward to bringing the Buck Institute’s focus on the connection
between aging and chronic disease to the Foundation’s efforts to find effective
treatments for the disease,” said Andersen, a neuroscientist who heads a lab
that studies processes that lead to neuronal cell death in both Parkinson’s and
Alzheimer’s diseases.
The research will focus on cellular senescence, a
process whereby cells stop dividing in response to stress and secrete
deleterious factors that cause tissue damage and lead to chronic inflammation.
The work will build on an existing research partnership between Andersen and Buck
professor, Judith Campisi, PhD, a pioneer in a field that has identified
cellular senescence or “inflamm-aging” as a major driver of chronic disease.
“Little is known about cellular senescence in the
brain,” said Andersen. “Our preliminary data shows an increased expression of
markers for senescence in tissues affected by Parkinson’s, and we are excited
to look more closely at the neuropathology that connects the toxic proteins
associated with Parkinson’s to senescence-associated inflammation.” In the first
year of the two-year grant, scientists will study senescence in patient-derived
pluripotent stem cells-derived
neurons. In the second year researchers will clear
senescent cells in a mouse model of Parkinson’s to determine if the symptoms of
the disease can be prevented.
Parkinson’s affects one in 100 people; the average age
of disease onset is 60. While there is no objective test for the disease,
recent research suggests that at least one million people in the United States
and more than five million worldwide have Parkinson’s. Hallmark symptoms of the
disease include a loss of spontaneous and voluntary movement along with
rigidity and resting tremor. Parkinson’s can also lead to cognitive impairment
and mood disorders. There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s. Existing
treatments help to control symptoms, but do not address the neurological
underpinnings of the disease.
About the Buck Institute for Research on Aging
The Buck Institute challenges the way we think about
aging by approaching it as if it were a disease. We do not accept aging as
inevitable decline. Our mission is to extend the healthy, vital years of
life.
Our research is aimed at rendering chronic diseases as
preventable, deferrable, curable or, at the least, manageable. Whenever possible,
we want to restore function.
Buck scientists are pioneers. They work in a dynamic,
collaborative environment to understand how normal aging contributes to
conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, cancer, osteoporosis,
arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, macular degeneration and glaucoma, among
others.
We are an independent nonprofit organization working
in an architectural landmark located in northern Marin County, California. For
more information: www.thebuck.org
http://www.buckinstitute.org/buck-news/buck-faculty-julie-andersen-phd-receives-grant-michael-j-fox-foundation-study-brain-aging?
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