Development of an Advanced Age-Related Cellular Model to Improve Understanding of Neurodegenerative Diseases

神经退行性疾病，如阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病和肌萎缩性侧索硬化症，是由脑和脊柱中的神经元死亡引起的与年龄相关的疾病。干细胞衍生的细胞模型是生物医学研究和制药工业中用于研究疾病机制和寻找新药的强大体外工具。然而，大多数常用的干细胞衍生的细胞模型不能模拟与衰老相关的特征，这对于研究与年龄相关的疾病如神经退行性疾病并不理想。因此，诺丁汉大学、伯明翰大学和莱斯特大学之间的这项合作项目旨在：- 生成“老化”神经元的细胞模型-识别“老化”神经元的特征标记物-探索神经元老化的关键调节因子的作用长期而言，该项目将开发的细胞模型可用于寻找和测试治疗神经退行性疾病和其他可能与年龄有关的神经系统疾病的新药。该项目的博士生将学习干细胞技术，生物工程，蛋白质组学，动物模型的使用方面的先进技术，并将获得定量和跨学科的技能，以及整个生物体生物学的专业知识。

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, are age-related disorders, caused by the death of neurons in the brain and spinal column. They affect >60 million people worldwide and there are currently no effective treatments for these diseases.Stem cell-derived cellular models are powerful in vitro tools used in biomedical research and pharmaceutical industry to study disease mechanisms and find new drugs. However, most commonly-used stem cell-derived cellular models do not mimic the features associated with aging, which is not ideal for studying age-related disorders such as neurodegenerative diseases.Therefore, this collaborative project between the Universities of Nottingham, Birmingham and Leicester aims to:- Generate a cellular model for 'aged' neurons- Identify markers characteristic of 'aged' neurons- Explore the role of key regulators of neuronal agingLonger-term, the cellular model that will be developed in this project could be used to find and test new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases and potentially other age-related neurological conditions. The PhD student on this project will learn advanced techniques in stem cell technology, bioengineering, proteomics, the use of animal models and will acquire quantitative and interdisciplinary skills, and expertise in whole organism biology.