Cell screening platform to test drugs for Alzheimers Disease
The project aims to generate a 3D neuronal stem cell screening platform for early drug discovery for Alzheimers Disease directly supported by OcellO’s technology.
Due to the aging population, dementia is a growing social-economic problem. While many animal models have been created, so far no candidate drugs have been found that work in clinical trials. So since animal models do not seem to adequately reflect the human brain situation, we are in need of better models to develop an effective drug.
Most forms of dementia, such as Alzheimers Disease, are characterised by the accumulation of tau protein in brain cells. The disease spreads through the brain as the tau travels from cell to cell and causes clotting of the normal tau. New stem cell culture systems give the opportunity to study aspects of tau pathology in 3D neural structures.
The project aims to deliver an in vitro tau transmission assay in human neurons, both in a traditional 2D and in an advanced 3D culture system, with the final goal to deliver a screenable 3D human neuron culture. Upon success, the stem cell screenings platform will broadly be implemented by academic and industrial drug discovery.
The project successfully showed neurodegenerative changes in the newly developed human tau model thereby providing a new tool that has advantage over traditional mouse model systems. The high content neuronal imaging allows automated analysis of the neuronal degeneration that are present in the brain of FTD patients.
