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The Immunology of Blood: Unlocking the Drivers for Neurodegeneration

EVENT: 
Weekly Seminar | Not Open to the Public
Who Should Attend: 
Researchers

Abstract

The communication between the brain, immune and vascular systems is a key contributor to the onset and progression of neurological diseases. The Akassoglou lab identified the coagulation factor fibrinogen as a blood-derived driver for neuroinflammation in a wide range of neurologic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and brain trauma. Her lab showed that fibrinogen is necessary and sufficient for neurodegeneration and a new culprit for microglia-mediated oxidative stress-dependent spine elimination and cognitive impairment. By developing Tox-Seq, her lab reported the oxidative stress innate immune cell atlas in neuroinflammation. Her lab developed cutting-edge imaging tools to study the neurovascular interface and a first-in-class fibrin-targeting immunotherapy to selectively target inflammatory functions of fibrin without interference with clotting with efficacy in autoimmune- and amyloid-driven neurotoxicity. These findings could be a common thread for the understanding of the etiology, progression, and development of new treatments for neurologic diseases with neuroimmune and cerebrovascular dysfunction.

Katerina Akassoglou's Figure

Publications

Katerina Akassoglou
The immunology of blood: connecting the dots at the neurovascular interface
Nat Immunol . 2020 Jul;21(7):710-712. doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-0671-z.
Andrew S Mendiola, Jae Kyu Ryu, Sophia Bardehle, Anke Meyer-Franke, Kenny Kean-Hooi Ang, Chris Wilson, Kim M Baeten, Kristina Hanspers, Mario Merlini, Sean Thomas, Mark A Petersen, Alexander Williams, Reuben Thomas, Victoria A Rafalski, Rosa Meza-Acevedo, Reshmi Tognatta, Zhaoqi Yan, Samuel J Pfaff, Michael R Machado, Catherine Bedard, Pamela E Rios Coronado, Xiqian Jiang, Jin Wang, Michael A Pleiss, Ari J Green, Scott S Zamvil, Alexander R Pico, Benoit G Bruneau, Michelle R Arkin, Katerina Akassoglou
Transcriptional profiling and therapeutic targeting of oxidative stress in neuroinflammation
Nat Immunol . 2020 May;21(5):513-524. doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-0654-0. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
Mario Merlini, Victoria A Rafalski, Pamela E Rios Coronado, T Michael Gill, Maya Ellisman, Gayathri Muthukumar, Keshav S Subramanian, Jae Kyu Ryu, Catriona A Syme, Dimitrios Davalos, William W Seeley, Lennart Mucke, Robert B Nelson, Katerina Akassoglou
Fibrinogen Induces Microglia-Mediated Spine Elimination and Cognitive Impairment in an Alzheimer's Disease Model
Neuron . 2019 Mar 20;101(6):1099-1108.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.014. Epub 2019 Feb 5.

When

Tuesday, December 1, 2020 - 12:30pm

Where

Conference Room: 
Online Webinar

More Information

Darlene White

Conditions & Recovery

Neurodegenerative Diseases icon
Worldwide, 50 million people are living with Alzheimer's and other dementias.