Ascending Investigator 2023
Karla Kristine Freude
Sex-Dependent Differences in Microglia Response in Alzheimer's Disease
Professor
University of Copenhagen
Professor Kristine Freude鈥檚 project will investigate why women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer鈥檚 disease by assessing how sex specific changes in gene expression is leading to changes in the activity of brain immune cells (microglia). Microglia are directly involved in the survival and functionality of neurons, which are progressively lost in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
Epigenetic and functional studies in microglia derived from patient and control induced pluripotent stem cells will reveal which biological pathways are divergent in female microglia vs. male microglia. It is anticipated that the results from this project will aid the clinical decisions to implement immunomodulatory treatments in a personalized and sex specific manner.
