Li Liu
liuli6(at)msu.edu
PI:
Christina Chan
Lab:
517-432-1003
Michigan State University
2125 Engineering Building
East Lansing, MI 48824
Hometown:
Heilongjiang, China
Undergraduate Institution:
China Agricultural University
Project title:
Mechanisms Involved in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease Arising from the Pamitic Acid-astrocytes-conditioned Media
Project Description:
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive age-related neurodegenerative disease, which causes thinking and memory to become seriously impaired. Epidemiological findings suggested that high-calorie and high-fat diet may increase the risk of AD and fatty acids are critical in determining the risk of AD. The studies showed that high fatty acid content is found in the AD brain. Free fatty acid, Palmitic acid, induce AD like change in the primary neurons through astrocytes-conditioned media. However, what mechanism and potential signaling pathways are involved is not clear. ? -secretase and -secretase are directly related to the production of amyloid ?, classic biological hallmarks of AD. My project is focused on the signaling pathways related to upregulating or activating ? -secretase and -secretase in the primary neurons at the stimuli of astrocytes-conditioned media.