Leaders in Research
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| Christiane Reitz, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Neurology Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Dr. Christiane Reitz and her lab have recently implicated the neuronal sortilin-related receptor gene (SORL1), which is involved in trafficking of APP within the cells, as a susceptibility gene for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that under-expression of SORL1 leads, through changes in APP trafficking, to over-expression of A&914; and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, SORL1 is a potential novel target for prevention and treatment, as well as genetic profiling tool of Alzheimer’s disease. However, through which pathways SORL1 acts on APP trafficking, and with which factors in these pathways it mechanistically interacts, remains unknown. Preliminary findings suggest that besides SORL1, at least two additional genes in the same pathway are involved. The aim of Dr. Reitz’ Beeson project is to map the additional causative factors in this trafficking pathway that are mechanistically involved in Alzheimer’s disease. This will help elucidate the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and will identify targets for prevention, treatment and genetic testing. Dr. Reitz received her MD from Muenster University in Germany and her PhD in genetic epidemiology from Erasmus University Rotterdam. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Sergievsky Center at Columbia University Medical Center. | |
| Primary Research (for Beeson Program): Mapping Causative Factors in the Sortilin-related Pathway in Alzheimer's Disease
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The accumulation of Aβ peptide in the brain, a neurotoxic derivative of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), is a central event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Over the past years, it became clear that pathways regulating protein trafficking within the cell play a key role in this Aβ accumulation.