Recent studies have uncovered a number of genes that can influence the risk of developing sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, it remains unknown exactly how these genes impact the function of cells and promote disease. It is also unknown whether drugs can be developed to target these genes in a beneficial way. The UCI Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) recently established the first AD induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell core to provide researchers with a powerful new approach to study the relationship between genetic risk factors and AD pathogenesis in human cells. iPS cells are a specialized cell that can be produced by adding 4 key genes to human skin or blood cells. The resulting cells can then be grown indefinitely and are pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into any cell type within the body. By producing iPS cells from patients with AD, mild cognitive impairment, and unaffected controls, scientists can study the influence of disease-associated genes on key types of human cells such as neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. One major challenge is that researchers will likely need cells derived from many individual patients to study the effects of genes in a complex disorder such as AD. The UCI ADRC iPS core therefore aims to generate lines from over 140 individual patients. These iPS cell lines will then be made widely available to AD researchers worldwide to accelerate the discovery of novel therapeutics and enhance our understanding of the complex genetic components of AD.
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