Brains and Ageing

Who am I? Ruth JonesFinal Year Undergraduate

student at Cardiff University studying Neuroscience

What on earth is Neuroscience? Well…

Just had a year working with the Dementia Research Group at Bristol University

BackgroundAlzheimer’s Dementia is caused by Amyloid-β

induced neuronal loss. Two main types of Amyloid-β protein are Aβ40

and Aβ42

Researchers have found that patients with Alzheimer’s Dementia have a higher Aβ42:40 ratio

So what did I do?I looked at how the Aβ42:40

ratio changed with age in the frontal cortex of dementia-free individuals aged 16-96.

I measured Aβ40 and Aβ42 protein levels using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs).

Image taken from: http://gbo.com/images/ELISA_96_Well_Microplates.jpg

So what did I do? ELISAs

Plate ReaderImage taken from: http://www.bmglabtech.com/images/products/flo-0707.jpg

96 well plate Image taken from: http://www.cosmobrand.com/files/image/elisa%20plate(1).jpg

So I have my absorbance values what next?Absorbance of sample – Absorbance of blank

(control) wells (ABS units).Interpolated results from the standard curve:

How small is a pM?

1 pM = M

Or

0.000000000001 M

What Did I find?In post-mortem tissue you can extract two type

of Aβ, soluble and insoluble . So I have measures for soluble and insoluble

Aβ40, and Aβ42 for each person.

Over to you!Tasks:

Using the data in excel calculate the soluble and insoluble Aβ42:40 ratios and plot them against age.

Then create new graphs separating them into 3 age groups (e.g. <40, 40-70 and >70 years.

Does the ratio significantly change with age? How would you check any differences are significant?

What Did I find?There are also genetic risk-factors for AD, the

Aplipoprotein-E gene is one. Research has shown that AD patients with the 3.4 genotype have a higher Aβ42:40 ratios.Tasks:

Using the data in excel plot the soluble/insoluble Aβ42:40 changes according to genotype. Does genotype make a significant difference? Is there an age when the ratio seems to be strongly influenced by genotype?

Using the information from the following link http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/dementia-genetics/ write a paragraph on how the differences in genetic testing between those with early (familial) onset AD and late-onset AD. Name 3 other non-genetic (environmental) risk-factors.

And Finally…Work in groups to create a poster showing all that

you have learnt today (including your results!) to present to the class.

While you’re writing your posters think about if there is anything you would do differently if you were to repeat the experiment, and if you were to carry on the research what would you look at next?

More Cool Brain Stuff…

Youtube video’s giving more information on AD brain, nerve transmission and the brain. Alzheimer’s Research UK website has more information on diagnosis and treatments- and a cool online tour of their labs! The Wellcome Trust Big picture publication is an awesome free magazine about Science… Plus some more brain-related books!