Alzheimer’s Disease

AD is one of the most common cause of senile dementia and is characterized by the presence of extracellular senile plaques composed by amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide. The cognitive impairement, typical of this disorder, has a drastic impact on the lives of patients and has a progressive evolution which ultimately leads to death. The neocortex is one of the anatomical areas most strongly impacted by AD and the access to human neocortical neurons is pivotal for AD-related investigations and drug screening. To this purpose, the Cellular Engineering Laboratory at FPS has developed a solid workflow for the generation of functional human neocortical neurons from iPS cells which are tested for their intracellular response to Aβ oligomer insult.

FPS Grant: “Dissection of Aβ oligomer synaptotoxic signaling in human neocortical neurons”

PI: Maria Teresa Dell’Anno

FPS people involved: Maria Teresa Dell’Anno, Liam McDonnell, Chiara Maria Mazzanti, Luca Fidia Pardini, Francesco Olimpico.
External Collaborators: Stephen M. Strittmatter (Yale University), Marco Onorati (University of Pisa), Giancarlo Demontis (University of Pisa).

Confocal imaging of human neocortical neurons derived in vitro from pluripotent cells. Neurons are stained for beta-3-tubulin (in green) and DAPI (in blue).