ForInter

BAVARIAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION INTERACTION OF HUMAN BRAIN CELLS

Modelling astropathy for idiopathic Parkinson disease – an approach using induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation

Field of work:

Astrocytes perform many crucial functions that affect neurons ultimately also regulating neuronal survival. Accordingly astrocyte dysfunction has been identified as the cause of many neurodegenerative diseases, but so far not been explored in the context of idiopathic parkinson’s disease (IPD). To address the important question to which extent astrocyte dysfunction may occur in IPD we will differentiate astrocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells obtained from controls and patients within this consortium. We will then explore the known functions of astrocytes, such as glutamate uptake, ion buffering and regulation of metabolic parameters including oxidative stress. We will further explore the cell surface proteome and secretome of astrocytes in a comparative approach between controls and patient-derived astrocytes to identify potential novel dysfunctions with disease relevance.

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