Does Alzheimer’s Disease Accelerate Brain Aging?

This project aims to shed light on the pathological mechanisms underlying brain malfunction in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

The hippocampus, a brain region crucial for learning and memory, generates new neurons throughout life. This process is damaged in people with Alzheimer’s disease, but the cause of these alterations is unknown. Dr. Llorens-Martín and her team will use high-quality human brain samples and cutting-edge genomic and microscopy methodologies to assess the toxicity of the environment that surrounds new neurons. Study findings will identify novel mechanisms responsible for hippocampal perturbation in Alzheimer’s and generate novel resources that allow faster and more accurate diagnosis of this condition.

Our project relies on a unique set of human brain samples collected by our lab over the last 14 years. These samples have been subjected to state-of-the-art tissue preservation and processing methodologies, which ensures the optimal detection of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of interest in this project. Moreover, we will apply a groundbreaking combination of molecular, biochemical, genomic, histological, and microscopy techniques to these human brain samples.

The ultimate goal of this project is to develop novel and robust biomarkers for Alzheimer´s disease progression. To this end, the application of cutting-edge genomic techniques will facilitate the identification of groups of genes of particular importance in this disorder. Moreover, we intend to identify particularly vulnerable cell populations, thereby unveiling key novel therapeutic targets for this-yet incurable condition.