Drainage of intraparenchymal tracers from brain into lymph nodes
The brain does not have a conventional lymphatic system for draining waste products. Studies have recently shown that aquaporin-4 is involved in the clearance of brain interstitial solutes, including amyloid-beta, a waste product implicated in the patophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (Iliff et al, Sci Trans. Med. 2012). However, the precise mechanisms that govern the brain waste clearance and the exit routes (along veins or arteries?) are still unknown. We aim to study the clearance pathways in more details, and map out the molecular mechanisms involved in brain waste clearance.
We plan on doing this by injecting different tracers to the brain parenchyma of anesthetized mice of different transgenic strains and evaluating tracer clearance. We will use radioactive tracers to quantify the tracer clearance rate, and fluorescent tracers to visualize the spatial distribution of the tracer and its exit pathway.
The project will provide increased understanding of brain drainage mechanisms. Such insight is important for early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other dementia disorders.
We plan on doing this by injecting different tracers to the brain parenchyma of anesthetized mice of different transgenic strains and evaluating tracer clearance. We will use radioactive tracers to quantify the tracer clearance rate, and fluorescent tracers to visualize the spatial distribution of the tracer and its exit pathway.
The project will provide increased understanding of brain drainage mechanisms. Such insight is important for early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other dementia disorders.