Richard Price, PhD, (left) and John Lukens, PhD
The National Institute on Aging has awarded Richard Price, PhD, and John Lukens, PhD, a new $3.7 million grant for research using focused ultrasound to deliver gene therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Microglia, the resident immune cells in the brain, play key roles in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis and represent promising targets in the development of new Alzheimer’s disease treatments. A gene named INPP5D, predominantly expressed by microglia in the brain, has been recently uncovered as a late-onset Alzheimer’s disease genetic risk factor. Its deletion has been shown to improve microglial immune functions and Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Price and Lukens theorize that INPP5D is a novel therapeutic target for ameliorating Alzheimer’s-related disease. However, because global inhibition of INPP5D may cause multi-organ inflammation, its inhibition must entail selective brain/microglial targeting.
Focused ultrasound in combination with microbubbles, an emerging and clinically relevant modality, has been shown to enhance the delivery of therapies to the brain. Price and Lukens, along with their research teams, plan to develop and deploy focused ultrasound strategies to deliver INPP5D neutralizing gene therapies to microglia in their research models. The aim is to improve microglial immune functions, restore neuronal health, and improve Alzheimer’s disease pathology.
Price is co-director of UVA Health’s Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center and a professor in the UVA Department of Biomedical Engineering. Lukens is director of UVA’s Harrison Family Translational Research Center in Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and a professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience.
Filed Under: Research