Down-Regulation of Olfactory Receptors in Response to Traumatic Brain Injury Promotes Risk for Alzheimer's Disease
Abstract
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a risk factor for subsequent development of Alzheimer s disease (AD). Abnormal tau processing is a common pathological feature of TBI and AD and tau neuropathology plays a key role in both TBI complications and AD dementia. This study is based on our recent findings of aberrant down-regulation of specific olfactory receptors (OR) as biological indices for TBI and down-regulation of OR TBI biomarkers following TBI might contribute to TBI-related tau neuropathology. We propose that down-regulation of select OR TBI biomarkers in the brain may contribute to the elevation of tau neuropathological phenotypes, thereby promoting the development of AD dementia among Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans with exposure to TBI. In Year 1, we found that activation of OR4M1 by a low affinity ligand resulted in reduced tau phosphorylation via JNK signaling pathway and a manuscript was published based on this finding. We constructed a virtual 3D structure model for OR4M1 to screen high affinity ligands. Fifty Seven (57) compounds were identified and clustered into 32 clusters based on their structure similarities. We found significant decrease of the blood OR contents in a rat model of TBI. Outcomes from our study will provide a better understanding of TBI complications and how it is related to AD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA602080
Entities
People
- Giulio Maria Pasinetti
Organizations
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai