S E M I N A R & V I S I T I N G S P E A K E R S E R I E S

D AT E

Friday, February 24, 2017 9:00AM

LO C AT I O N

PX236/238 PsychHealth Building

S P E A K E R

Dr. Stephanie Booth

Adjunct Professor - Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba

Chief - Molecular PathoBiology, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada

Topic: Untangling the brains neurodegenerative transcriptional response in presymptomatic prion disease

ABSTRACT

Neurite degeneration represents a common characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases including those caused by prions. In fact, in mouse models the loss of dendritic spines and reduction in neurite outgrowth is one of the earliest pathological changes observed in vivo. However, the underlying mechanisms that regulate these processes remain elusive. By harnessing laser capture microdissection to specifically isolate neuronal cell bodies from the hippocampus we were able to identify genes and miRNAs miRs) that are induced during preclinical prion disease. A functional genomics approach in primary hippocampal neurons suggests that these miRs regulate degeneration of neurites in these cells. Targeted transcriptional profiling has great potential to identify both therapeutic targets for patients with prion disease, as well as early markers of prion infection that may be translatable to other neurodegenerative diseases.

/sent on behalf of

Eftekhar Eftekhapour Coordinator, Seminar & Visiting Speaker Program Manitoba Neuroscience Network

Email: networking@manitobaneuroscience.ca mailto:networking@manitobaneuroscience.ca Tel: 204.235.3939 Fax: 204.237.4092

St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre Room R4046 - 351 Taché Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6 CANADA

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