Modelling human brain aging and Parkinson's disease

In this project, they will propose to develop a laboratory model of the human brain that recapitulates key features of physiological aging and pathological neurodegeneration happening in Parkinson’s disease. To do so, the project partners will use advanced tissue-engineering technologies and human cells from Parkinson’s disease patients. They will collaborate with the company OrganoTherapeutics, which is already focusing on developing molecules against the disease.

Parkinson’s disease represents the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly. More than 10 million people worldwide are living with the disease, with about 63,500 cases in the Netherlands alone. Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease due to the difficulty of studying the human brain and the excessive reliance in the past on the use of animal models, which do not develop this disease. Aging plays a significant role in the disease but is frequently overlooked.

They will develop a procedure to include the aging component in these cells by passing them a definite number of times. The cells will then be used to generate brain organoids mimicking the Parkinson’s-affected region of the brain. The organoids will then be treated with compounds known to remove aging cells as a proof of concept of the relevance of a strategy. The organoids will then undergo a thorough analysis using bioinformatics approaches.

The project will provide a pre-clinical testing platform and demonstrate the potential of targeting aging cells to combat Parkinson’s disease. Our approach to induce aging could also be applied to other age-associated disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.