Vascular Mechanisms of Dementia: Cell-Type Specific Therapeutic and Imaging Strategies

摘要： 痴呆症的神经病理学研究经常显示出混合的特征，包括典型的阿尔茨海默氏症的特征， 脑淀粉样血管病(CAA)、微出血和微梗塞，突出了复杂性和 血管机制在神经退行性变中的重要性。导致CAA的确切机制， 对微血管变性和脑血流紊乱(CBF)的了解很少。蜂窝手机 血管的成分包括内皮细胞和壁细胞(平滑肌细胞或周细胞)，所有这些细胞 在调节脑血流量和维持血脑屏障方面起着关键作用。而这些细胞显著地 受神经变性的影响，目前还没有具体的治疗策略来保护他们。一把钥匙 此应用程序的目标是开发创新的策略，以治疗目标和形象的各种 血管细胞成分，以提高我们对导致痴呆的机制的理解。具体来说，我们 目的完成概念验证研究，重点研究铁介导的细胞毒性的潜在机制 可能导致微血管变性的代谢/活性氧种(ROS)。我们的目标是发展 并测试能够优先靶向脑周细胞、平滑肌细胞和内皮细胞的化合物。 减少细胞内游离铁和ROS毒性，改善微血管变性的目标。这些 还将测试细胞类型的特定化合物，以确定它们作为深层组织探针的潜力 临床前研究中的脑成像。为了实现这一目标，我们在界面上组建了一个多学科团队 并提出了一套全面的实验，将活体内的 脑显微镜、化学合成、单细胞转录学以及CAA和微血管的动物模型 病理学。该项目有可能确定改善微血管的目标和策略。 退行性疾病可能会显著影响我们对 血管性痴呆。

ABSTRACT: Neuropathological studies in dementia frequently show mixed features including classical Alzheimer's hallmarks, cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), microhemorrhages, and microinfarcts, highlighting the complexity and importance of vascular mechanisms in neurodegeneration. The precise mechanisms leading to CAA, microvascular degeneration, and dysregulated cerebral blood flow (CBF) are poorly understood. The cellular constituents of blood vessels include endothelial and mural cells (smooth muscle cells or pericytes), all of which have critical roles in CBF regulation and blood-brain barrier maintenance. While these cells are prominently affected in neurodegeneration, there are currently no specific therapeutic strategies for protecting them. A key objective of this application is to develop innovative strategies to therapeutically target and image the various vascular cellular components to improve our understanding of mechanisms leading to dementia. Specifically, we aim to complete proof-of-concept studies with a focus on potential mechanisms of cytotoxicity mediated by iron metabolism/reactive oxygen species (ROS) that may lead to microvascular degeneration. We aim to develop and test compounds that can preferentially target brain pericytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells with the goal of reducing intracellular free iron and ROS toxicity and ameliorating microvascular degeneration. These cell-type specific compounds will also be tested to determine their potential to be used as probes for deep tissue brain imaging in preclinical studies. To achieve this, we have assembled a multidisciplinary team at the interface of neurovascular biology and chemistry and propose a comprehensive set of experiments that combine intravital brain microscopy, chemical synthesis, single-cell transcriptomics, and animal models of CAA and microvascular pathology. This project has the potential for identifying targets and strategies for ameliorating microvascular degeneration that could significantly impact our mechanistic understanding and therapeutic approaches for vascular dementia.