NIH R01 · 2024
NPTX2: Preserving memory circuits in normative aging and Alzheimer's Disease
Abstract The effect of aging on the human brain shows wide individual variation ranging from early onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) to maintenance of cognitive clarity into the 10th decade. The challenge is to understand why aging can have such disparate outcomes, and why it contributes so profoundly to the risk of neurodegenerative disease. We have examined aging and AD from the perspective of molecular pathways that underlie memory consolidation and determined that a gene termed NPTX2 provides an important clue to human cognitive failure. NPTX2 is expressed by pyramidal neurons and secreted at their excitatory synapses on parvalbumin interneurons (PV) to control inhibitory circuit function.…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.