Heikenwälder
Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Neuropathologie, Institut für » Prof. Dr. Adriano Aguzzi » Heikenwälder
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Do chronic inflammations modulate prion pathogenesis? | ||||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | The central nervous (CNS) and the lymphoreticular system represent the main reservoirs for prions in humans suffering from sporadic and new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease as well as in sheep, cattle, elk and deer suffering from scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy or chronic wasting disease. In this project we will address the question if chronic follicular inflammations, induced by ectopic expression of a pro-inflammatory cytokine, can give rise to new, unrecognized prion reservoirs in non-lymphoid, CNS independent organs. In addition we will investigate if inflammation within the kidney leads to infectious urine at terminal stage of disease. Mice expressing lymphotoxin a (LTa) under the rat insulin promoter (RIP), exhibit follicular lymphoid infiltrates in pancreas and kidney, consisting of FDC-networks, B- and T-lymphocytes, dendritic cells and macrophages and focal expression of the complement receptor 1 and the cellular prion protein, PrPC. RIP-LTa mice will be challenged with prions (RML) either intraperitoneally (ip.) or intracerebrally (ic.) and time course experiments will be performed to see possible accumulation and replication of prions in non-lymphoid inflamed tissue. |
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| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Chronic inflammation, Lymphotoxin alpha, complement, FDCs, germinal centers, PrPSC | ||||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Other links to external web pages | http://www.uzh.ch/pathol/neuropathologie/d/index.html | ||||||||
| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Others Catello Family |
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| In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Apr 2001 to Mar 2005 |