The primary goal of the Emory ADRC Neuropathology Core is to promote and support research on Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders through banking and distribution of well characterized tissue coupled with comprehensive neuropathological assessment. Given that the neuropathology of AD and other dementias continues to develop with the discovery of new causative and risk related genes and the identification of novel structural changes and pathological protein accumulations, the Core will also support new investigative studies based on novel clinical or pathological findings from our patient population or from pursuit of questions that arise from new developments in the field.
The Specific Aims of the Neuropathology Core are 1) To reliably harvest nervous system tissue at autopsy from patients followed in our Clinical Core;2) To maintain an active tissue bank to facilitate the acquisition, storage, handling, and distribution of well-characterized autopsy brain tissue, and other biological samples, and to continually refine methods for rapid freezing and fixation/processing of post-mortem brain tissue as needed to better accommodate RNA extraction and proteomic studies;3) To provide comprehensive neuropathologic assessment of autopsy tissues and to provide reliable neuropathologic data for correlation with information generated by the Clinical Core and for use in research studies at Emory, NACC, and other institutions;4) To genotype cases for apolipoprotein.E and other genes linked to neurodegenerative disease, using either blood samples accessioned by the Clinical Core or autopsy cases accessioned by the Neuropathology Core, and to facilitate collaborative investigations using the core's banks of DNA extracts, plasma samples, and buffy coat isolates. The functions ofthe Neuropathology Core are intimately connected with those ofthe other cores and of the ADRC research projects. The Neuropathology Core will work closely with the other Cores to continue to fulfill its mission of providing high quality tissue for research projects at Emory and at other institutions in the United States and abroad.
Alzheimer's Disease and other dementing illness are a major public health problem for our aging population. The examination of human tissues from patients suffering from these disorders is necessary for identifying potential causes and treatments. The Neuropathology Core of this ADRC proposal plays a central role in collecting human tissues for research into Alzheimer disease and other disorders.
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