{"id":1198,"date":"2023-11-15T14:19:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T13:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucdr.be\/?page_id=1198"},"modified":"2024-05-08T10:46:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T08:46:50","slug":"alzheimer-and-other-tauopathies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ucdr.be\/index.php\/alzheimer-and-other-tauopathies\/","title":{"rendered":"Alzheimer and other tauopathies"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Alzheimer and other tauopathies <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Group leader: Prof. Karelle Leroy\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Dr Leroy joined the ULB center for Diabetes research for her expertise on cellular and mouse modeling of the cerebral lesions found in Alzheimer\u2019s disease, a dementia more frequently observed in individuals with diabetes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Group leader: Prof. Karelle Leroy\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Karelle Leroy obtained her PhD at the Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles in 2003. During her PhD, she described for the first time the increased activity of Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3beta (GSK3beta) in the brain of people with Alzheimer\u2019s disease. This kinase is responsible for abnormal tau phosphorylation, the first step leading to the development of neuronal lesions in this disease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

She is currently Professor at the ULB Center for Diabetes Research, Medical Faculty, Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. She has received several honors and awards.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Research Interests<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Alzheimer\u2019s disease is the most frequent neurodegenerative disease leading to dementia and cognitive deficits and <\/span>represents a major health challenge for our aging societies as it has become the first cause of death in Belgium. There is no curative treatment for this disease. The etiopathogenesis of Alzheimer\u2019s disease is relatively unknown as only 5% of Alzheimer cases are caused by familial mutations. This dementia is characterized by two neuropathological lesions, senile plaques composed of extracellular amyloid peptides and neurofibrillary tangles composed of abnormally phosphorylated and aggregated tau proteins forming paired helical filaments. Cognitive impairment strongly correlates with the abundance of neurofibrillary tangles. During disease development, tangle formation follows a neuroanatomical pathway suggesting that synaptically connected neurons could transmit tau pathology by the recruitment of normal tau by abnormal tau proteins in a prion-like mechanism. Several studies have shown that aggregated tau can recruit and seed murine or human mutant tau protein following their intracerebral injections. Even if the propagation of tau pathology could explain the formation of tangles in Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the mechanism by which the abnormal tau protein can recruit normal tau remains unknown. Tau phosphorylation probably plays an important role as the internalization and secretion (two important steps in the propagation mechanism) of tau is increased when tau is phosphorylated by GSK3beta, a kinase shown to be closely associated to the first stages of tangles formation in the human disease.<\/p>

Epidemiological studies show a clear association between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Indeed, people with <\/span>type 2 diabetes have a two-fold increased risk of developing Alzheimer. Moreover, type 2 diabetes in an elderly population with mild cognitive impairment influences the progression to dementia.\u00a0 <\/span>As the activity of GSK3beta, a kinase involved in the insulin signaling pathway, is increased in Alzheimer\u2019s disease, this kinase could be the possible link between these two pathologies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The research of the Leroy <\/span>lab is devoted to the understanding of the mechanisms of formation of neurofibrillary tangles by the analysis of human pathological brain tissue as well as cellular and animal models. Her team is undertaking preclinical therapeutic trials against Alzheimer and related tauopathies using nanomedicine and diabetes treatments.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t