ESR13: Evangelia Thanou

ESR Fiche

Investigation of the potency of small molecule mimetics of neurotrophins to rescue the reduction in synapse number and the aberrant synapse proteome in mouse models of AD.

 and Cognitive ResearchEuroNeurotrophin Research
The main focus of the project is the examination of the temporal effect of the already existed neurosteroids and the new neurotrophin mimetics on synapse proteome and synapse density in mice models of AD (APPswe/PS1dE9 and 5xFAD transgenic mice).Assuming of conclusive results for the alterations in synapse proteome and synapse density as well as in other neuronal cells proteome, new information will be given about the newly developed small mimetics in vivo. This will lead to a hypothesis generation that partially will explain the mechanistic aspect of the disorder. Furthermore, the potential rescue effects by the neurotrophin mimetics can lead to biomarkers development for basic research, clinical research and clinical practice.

Host
B10: VU University of Amsterdam, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research in Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands

Supervisor
Ass. Prof. Ka Wan Li, VU University of Amsterdam, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research

Scientific Background
Evangelia received her Bachelor's degree (2016) in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the Biology Department of the School of Sciences and Engineering at the University of Crete. Her early work and the projects she participated in as an undergraduate student were focused on understanding the correlation of Genome stability to pathways associated with longevity, aging and age-related pathology and cancer, at the FoRTH-IMBB Institute in Crete. She then moved to Athens, Greece, in order to attend the MSc in Molecular Biomedicine at the Medical School of NKUA in collaboration with the BSRC Al. Fleming Institute.  As a master's student, she worked at the BRFAA Foundation, where she found herself interested in Neuroscience. She worked for a short time of period studying Pitx2 interneurons in the context of ALS understanding. Then her work was focused on Parkinson's disease through basic and clinical research. More specifically she studied the role of LRRK2 signaling in resident and infiltrating immune cells in different models of familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease as well as the effect of nucleotide binding on leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 dimerization and activity.