Investigating the cause of APOE4-associated microglial activation and its resulting neurotoxicity of tauopathy-afflicted neurons

Project Narrative Carriers of the APOE4 gene are at significantly increased risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. In order to understand the cause of this increased Alzheimer's risk, we will investigate a potential connection between this gene and another important player in Alzheimer's disease: microglial cells, whose activation has been linked to the death of tau-accumulating neurons in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. By performing state-of-the-art gene studies and bioinformatics analyses, we will determine the role that APOE4 has on microglial activation in the brain, which will help us understand how to better prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease in carriers of the APOE4 gene.