ABC transporter blood-brain barrier function in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases – from basic research to treatment

Lecturer: Prof. Jens Pahnke, M.D., Ph.D., E.F.N./ University of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine / Oslo University Hospital, Department of Pathology, Norway

The seminar will take place on 20. 11. 2023 from 2:30 p.m. in the Turquoise Auditorium of the IEM CAS.

Annotation:

The current understanding of neurodegenerative diseases focusses on the deposition of toxic peptide species as larger aggregates in the brain of effected individuals. However, patients with sporadic neurodegenerative diseases do not overexpress these peptides. Moreover, they are hampered in removing the physiologically produced peptides, e.g. Aβ and α-synuclein. The blood-brain barrier plays a prominent role in the active and effective removal of metabolites and in the efflux of toxic peptides from the brain into the blood stream.

Here, ABC transporters were discovered by us and others to have a fundamental role in the homeostasis of the brain’s environment. In 2011, we described a new ABC transporter (ABCC1) that increases Aβ in the brain of knock-out animals by 12-14fold. Since then, we could show that the activation of ABC transporters can be used as a diagnostic tool and a new treatment option in elderly with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s disease.

1 Pahnke, J. et al. Free Neuropathol 2, 33, (2021)
2 Pahnke, J. et al. Neurobiol Dis 72 Pt A, 54-60, (2014)
3 Pahnke, J. et al. Curr Alzheimer Res 5, 396-405, (2008)

We look forward to your participation.