Project Grant RF1AG079503

This $4.49 million project grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging will fund research at The Washington University to investigate the relationship between amyloid plaque deposition, cellular metabolic dysfunction, and functional brain organization in Alzheimer's disease (AD) mice models. Over three years, the researchers will use multi-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, multi-parametric photoacoustic microscopy, and wide-field optical imaging to measure biomarkers like nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, flavin adenine dinucleotide, and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen in mice brains at the microscopic and mesoscopic levels. This will help determine how amyloid plaques induce metabolic changes in specific cell types and how cellular metabolic dysfunction affects tissue and brain region metabolism and function. The study will also assess if amyloid plaque clearance can reverse any metabolic abnormalities found. Insights from this research align with the goals of the NIH's Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to further understanding of aging processes and age-related diseases like AD.