Autoimmune encephalitis: ItsME Foundation funds Harschnitz Group
The Harschnitz Group has been awarded a grant from the ItsME Foundation to develop a human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived brainstem model to understand brainstem encephalitis. The ItsME Foundation was founded in 2019 by Jur Deitmers and has its base in The Netherlands, with the goal to fight Meningitis and Encephalitis.
Autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) is a group of disorders where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy brain cells, causing inflammation. Symptoms range from memory loss to seizures and psychiatric issues.
The study will leverage hPSC technology to create disease-relevant cells of the central nervous system, in particular the brainstem, which are less understood in AIE pathology. This approach, utilising advanced stem cell techniques, promises insights into AIE pathogenesis and potential therapeutic avenues, reducing reliance on animal models.
“Our goal is to develop a novel model of the human brainstem, that can be leveraged to study both the normal development of the brain as well as pathology affecting the brainstem” – Oliver Harschnitz explains – “At HT, we will work closely with the National Facility for Genomics, which will help us to profile at a single-cell resolution the fidelity of our model. This project is important to our goals to further understand the molecular mechanisms underlying pathology of the human brainstem. We will do this using multiple single-cell profiling methods that will help us to dissect the cell-type vulnerability within the brainstem for specific autoantibodies.“
Share:
You could also like:
-
Colorectal Cancer: ML Enhances Cetuximab Response Predictions
An international collaborative study led by Human Technopole, Candiolo Cancer Institute IRCCS in Turin, the University of Turin, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge (UK) has identified new factors associated with therapeutic response in colorectal cancer. The research has led to the development of a machine-learning model capable of accurately predicting the effects of cetuximab, a drug in clinical use, on different colorectal tumour subtypes. Funded by the AIRC Foundation, the study paves the way to identifying molecular features that could serve as biomarkers for predicting treatment response in patients with this type of cancer.
-
Human Technopole Foundation’s Supplier List online
The Human Technopole Foundation’s Supplier Register is now online.
-
HT Director Zerial Awarded Mercurio Prize for Excellence in Research
The Human Technopole Director, Marino Zerial, has been awarded the 2024 Mercurio Prize in the “Research and Development” category, in recognition of the excellence of his research in the field of cell biology. Zerial, renowned for his studies on the mechanisms of endocytosis and cellular transport, has made significant contributions to the understanding of cellular dynamics, with potential therapeutic applications for diseases such as liver conditions.
-
A new model system for cortical development in vitro
Researchers from Human Technopole, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and Bicocca University established a method for developing brain assembloids that allows reproducing salient aspects of the antero-posterior polarity of the human cerebral cortex in vitro and opens new possibilities for disease modelling. The study is published in Nature Methods.
-
The National Facility for Genomics with Clelia Peano
Meet Clelia Peano, Head of the National Facility for Genomics. The Facility offers cutting-edge services to develop robust experimental and analytical workflows to explore different genomic research areas, including DNA and RNA analysis, chromatin structure, and epigenetic mechanisms regulating transcription. The goal is to enhance genomic research in all its aspects, benefiting the entire Italian scientific community.