Liviu-Gabriel Bodea
Rejuvenating microglia to alleviate Alzheimer’s disease
Award
Dementia Australia Research Foundation Mid-Career Research Fellowship
Status
Completed
Start Date
1 July 2022
About the project
The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases with age. Although we know the general characteristics of the Alzheimer’s disease brain, such as the presence of proteins amyloid-beta and tau, the development of effective treatments against the mechanisms leading to Alzheimer’s disease are still lacking. Microglia, a key type of brain cell involved in immune functioning and clearing of toxic waste, have beneficial roles that decrease with age. They can become harmful for the surrounding cells and contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Liviu-Gabriel Bodea’s project investigated ways to improve the efficiency of microglia to clear Alzheimer’s disease-specific pathological signs. He developed a unique technique to quickly and accurately analyse proteins produced by microglia in response to amyloid-beta in both cellular and animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. This has allowed him to increase the understanding of microglial behaviour at a microscopic level and identify a new cellular pathway activated in Alzheimer’s disease brains termed “the integrated stress response”. This pathway causes a reduction in crucial protein production leading to cellular dysfunction that may be the main cause for changes in microglia function seen in Alzheimer’s disease.
The data from this research project has formed the basis of funding from a NHMRC Ideas Grant for Dr Bodea to further understand the changes occurring in microglia in Alzheimer’s disease. This may be a critical area for further research and ultimately treatment development.
Where are they now?
At the time of the award, Liviu-Gabriel was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and located at the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research at the Queensland Brain Institute (University of Queensland).
