Human olfactory mucosa cell model opens a new perspective on Alzheimer's disease

Date:
February 15, 2022
Source:
University of Eastern Finland
Summary:
Researchers have developed and characterized a new cell model for
Alzheimer's disease that has wide utility for research and could
prove useful in early diagnosis and testing of new therapies.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have developed and characterized a new cell model for Alzheimer's disease that has wide
utility for research and could prove useful in early diagnosis and
testing of new therapies. In collaboration with clinicians at Kuopio
University Hospital, the researchers collected nasal biopsies from
cognitively healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's
disease over several years. Following tissue processing, the researchers applied a powerful single cell RNA sequencing approach to characterize the patient-derived cells of the olfactory mucosa, located in the upper parts
of the nasal cavity. The olfactory mucosal tissue is critical for the
sense of smell via its olfactory receptor neurons projecting to the brain.


========================================================================== "This unique approach has revealed that cells located in the nasal cavity
are impaired in patients with Alzheimer's disease," says Early-stage
Researcher Riikka Lampinen.

"Not only are transcriptional alterations observed, but also the functions
of these patient-derived cells are impaired." The new cell model and
the results were published in Cells today.

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating, chronic disease for which there
is no cure or effective treatment. Therefore, new human-based approaches
are needed to understand and combat the disease pathophysiology. The new results from the research group of Associate Professor Katja Kanninen
could in the future provide important insight into why a large proportion
of Alzheimer's disease patients suffer from a disturbed sense of smell
early in the disease pathogenesis. Furthermore, this new research
model that reflects human physiology has wide utility in allowing
detailed investigation of disease mechanisms that could lead to new
drug discoveries.

The olfactory mucosa has been proposed as an entry point of air pollutants
and viruses to the brain.

"Our current work is focused on understanding in detail how viral
infections or the exposure to air pollutants affect the cells of the
olfactory mucosa," Katja Kanninen says.

While these results are yet to be published, they are eagerly awaited
in hopes of providing important insight into how agents that are inhaled
in air could gain access to the brain, and thus disturb its function.

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dreams in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Eastern_Finland. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lampinen, R.; Fazaludeen, M.F.; Avesani, S.; O"rd, T.; Penttila",
E.;
Lehtola, J.-M.; Saari, T.; Hannonen, S.; Saveleva, L.; Kaartinen,
E.; Ferna'ndez Acosta, F.; Cruz-Haces, M.; Lo"ppo"nen, H.;
Mackay-Sim, A.; Kaikkonen, M.U.; Koivisto, A.M.; Malm, T.; White,
A.R.; Giugno, R.; Chew, S.; Kanninen, K.M. Single-Cell RNA-Seq
Analysis of Olfactory Mucosal Cells of Alzheimer's Disease
Patients. Cells, 2022 DOI: 10.3390/ cells11040676 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220215092510.htm

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