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Biomedicine Seminar

Lecturer: Mark Denham presents the work of his research group: “Identifying disease susceptibility variances in Parkinson’s disease with human induced pluripotent stem cells”

2019.01.08 | Zitta Glattrup Nygaard

Date Wed 06 Mar
Time 12:00 13:00
Location Lille Anatomisk aud. build. 1231-424

It is possible to sign-up for a free sandwich before 3 March. Registration for the seminar itself is not required.

Abstract
Our laboratory is interested in identifying genetic variances that influence the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD) or those that contribute to the age of onset. To do this, we study human induced pluripotent stem cell lines derived from patients with GBA-associated PD, the most prevalent genetic risk factor for familial PD. Importantly, not all GBA carriers develop PD, and by exploiting this fact, we use it as a genetic background for uncovering novel risk variances. With this approach, we have identified an RNA binding protein that is dysregulated in certain GBAhet patients and shown that this imbalance leads to an increase in Alpha-synuclein, the principal protein that is misfolded and aggregated in PD. Understanding the genetic mechanisms that contribute to the risk of developing PD is highly relevant for sporadic cases and can lead to new therapeutic targets.

The lecture lasts 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of discussion.

We hope to see you at Mark’s talk next week!

The Biomedicine Seminar Organizing Committee
Line Reinert
Martin Thomsen
Søren Degn
Mikkel Vendelbo

Seminar, Research, Public/Media, Health, Department of Biomedicine, Technical / administrative staff, Department of Biomedicine, Academic staff, PhD students