Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. The brains of many of the patients are less well supplied with glucose (sugar), but not much research aims to understand why this happens. Further, a protein of central importance to Alzheimer’s disease is APP. My lab found that there may be a connection between APP and the glucose transport, which is novel and has not yet been reported or investigated.

In this project, we will learn how exactly APP and the glucose transporter GLUT1, two central proteins in Alzheimer’s disease pathology, are connected. We want to understand how APP can change the abundance of GLUT1 when there is too much or too little APP. We will also assess if this connection is the same or different in the different cell types of the brain.

We will use cell culture models and sections of mouse brain tissue for our studies. Importantly, our project will include cells and mice that lack the expression of APP, which is not a standard procedure in Alzheimer’s disease research, but is necessary for us to understand the connection between APP and the glucose transporter.

Our project will reveal how APP regulates the glucose metabolism. Once we know this, we can investigate existing drugs and medications that could be “repurposed”. Repurposing means that a medication that is approved for a different disease, may be tested for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Should we be successful, we could request such testing and our project may quickly (within few years) improve the lives of those affected with Alzheimer’s disease.

The most important energy resource of the brain is glucose. In Alzheimer’s disease, the brain takes up less glucose worsening the disease. Our project is highly relevant for two reasons: First, we investigate a connection between two central proteins of Alzheimer’s disease that is novel and has not been investigated to date. Second, with the results of our project we will identify existing medications that could quickly improve the lives of affected persons.