Trends in Neuropathology
Prerequisites
Recommended for PhD students in Neuroscience. Suggested for IV-V year undergraduate students.
Programme
The course will be divided in 3 parts:
1) Exploring commonalities across neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases (20 hours). The aim of this aprt of the course is to provide knowledge about common molecular and cellular mechanisms in neurodegeneration and neurodevelopmental diseases (protein misfolding, posttranslational modifications, oxidative stress, autophagy, inflammation) including Alzheimer’s disease and tauopathies, Huntington disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Fragile X, Down and Rett syndromes.
2) Prion-like diseases (Prion disease and Parkinson’s disease) and their connection to the PNS (10 hours). We will discuss pathogenic mechanisms of protein transmission, systems to models the pathologies and novel theories on the origin of these diseases. We will include a description of behavioral tests done routinely to assess motor and cognitive impairments in animal models of prion-like diseases.
3) Neuronal regeneration (10 hours). In this section we will discuss the mechanisms of peripheral and central regeneration, the systems to model nerve and neuronal regeneration and strategies such as cell replacement therapies to improve this recovery process in vitro and in vivo. We will discuss examples of novel approaches to modulate regeneration applied to models of neurodegenerative diseases.
Educational aims
At the end of the course students will be able to appreciate the new molecular basis of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases and how it is possible to apply this knowledge to obtain in vitro and in vivo models for basic and translational research. We will also introduce new strategies to therapeutic approach for nerve and neuronal degeneration.
Bibliographical references
Publications from scientific journals and short scientific videos will be provided during the course.