Biology of Astrocytes in Parkinson's Disease | Parkinson's Disease - 0 views
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MiamiOH OARS on 25 Mar 19The Michael J. Fox Foundation will award one-year to 18-month grants for studies that explore the role of astrocytes in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology and the potential for astrocyte-focused therapeutics. The goals of this funding program are to further understanding of astrocyte biology in Parkinson's and to rationalize the pursuit of astrocyte-specific targets and/or pathways for the treatment of the disease. Preference will be given to applications that focus on or include the following: Role of astrocytes in initiating and/or propagating Parkinson's disease pathology, including alpha-synuclein spread, dopaminergic neuron death, inflammation and senescence Consequences of dysfunction and/or mutations of common PD targets, including alpha-synuclein, LRRK2, GBA, PRKN and PINK1 Manipulation of astrocyte activity and/or astrocyte-specific pathways to assess the potential of targeted astrocyte therapies on disease biology and/or symptoms Parkinson's disease models with high construct validity to human PD, including patient-derived material (such as iPSCs or cerebral organoids) and/or well characterized animal models and primary cells; Examination of human brain samples to answer specific hypotheses is also acceptable Targets, pathways and mechanisms proposed for investigation should have reasonable links to PD.