May 12, 2003
$6.8
Million Grant Funds Alzheimer’s
Study
CHICAGO ---
Northwestern University has received a $6.8 million grant from
the National Institutes of Health to unravel the molecular
triggers that cause overactivation of glia brain cells that leads
to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other
diseases.
Glia are important
cells of the central nervous system that normally help the body
mount a response to injury or developmental change,
but which are chronically activated in certain neurodegenerative
diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,
or after traumatic brain injury or stroke.
“Knowledge about glia-neuron interactions will provide
insight into signaling pathways to provide new drug discovery targets
for Alzheimer’s disease and other critical neurodegenerative
events,” said Linda Van Eldik, professor of cell and molecular
biology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University
and principal investigator of the Program Project Grant.
Van Eldik
explained that although the overactivation of glia seen in Alzheimer’s
disease is believed to play a critical role in the development
and progression of neurodegeneration, the
molecular mechanisms underlying the process have received little
attention.
She and her colleagues believe the four projects in this grant
will provide insight into fundamental cell biology changes that
might be amenable to modulation by a small molecule compound, such
as a drug, and provide a foundation for future research to develop
experimental drugs to inhibit disease progression.
Van
Eldik will collaborate on one of the projects with D. Martin
Watterson, J.G. Searle Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry,
professor of molecular pharmacology and biological chemistry at
the Feinberg School and director of the Northwestern University
Drug Discovery Training Program. Other Feinberg School researchers
include Lester (Skip) Binder, professor of cell and molecular biology;
Mary Jo LaDu, associate professor of medicine and senior scientist
at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute and a researcher
at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute; Robert
Vassar, associate professor of cell and molecular biology; Robert
Berry, professor of cell and molecular biology; and Alfred Rademaker,
professor of preventive medicine.
The Northwestern Drug Discovery Program also recently received
two training grants from the NIH. The first was a competitive renewal
for five years of a National Institute on Aging-funded predoctoral/postdoctoral
training grant, Drug Discovery for Age-related Disorders. The second
grant, from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences,
will fund five undergraduates from quantitative backgrounds to
pursue summer research. The program is called DARE, for Drug Discovery
Academic Research Experience. |