Project description
Uncovering Alzheimer’s disease mechanisms through RNA sequencing
Alzheimer’s disease is a leading neurodegenerative disorder with complex genetic and molecular origins that are still not fully understood, particularly in its familial and early-onset forms. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TranscriptAccuracyAD project will use long-read RNA sequencing to investigate how specific mutations in the PSEN1 gene compare between mutant and corrected cell lines to identify disease-related transcriptional changes and shared mechanisms with sporadic Alzheimer’s. The project will further integrate advanced computational analyses and cross-dataset comparisons to map disrupted pathways and explore potential RNA-based therapeutic targets. Overall, the project deepens understanding of Alzheimer’s disease at the molecular level and supports the development of novel, mechanism-based therapeutic strategies.
Objective
Mutations in Presenilin 1 (PSEN1) represent the most common cause of autosomal dominant familial Alzheimer’s disease (fAD), resulting in a severe early-onset phenotype. Two pathogenic PSEN1 variants, the intron 4 deletion (int4del) and the missense mutation R278I, have been associated with fAD. However, their transcriptional consequences remain remarkably understudied.
I hypothesise that int4del and R278I (i) perturb PSEN1 splicing, thereby compromising diverse PSEN1 functions in neuronal pathways that are central to Alzheimer’s pathogenesis, with the potential to exacerbate pathology; and (ii) can reveal molecular mechanisms shared with sporadic forms of the disease, paving the way for novel therapeutic strategies.
To test this hypothesis, I propose analysing a novel long-read RNA-sequencing dataset formed by 12 induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived samples from two fAD patients. These include triplicate neuronal lines harbouring the int4del and R278I mutations, respectively, alongside isogenic CRISPR-Cas9-corrected controls. Using cutting-edge techniques developed at Prof. Ana Conesa’s lab (I2SysBio, Valencia, Spain), I will: (i) characterise the complex transcriptional landscape associated with each mutation; (ii) predict the disruption of cis-acting regulators and related consequences on transcript structure; (iii) evaluate downstream cellular pathways compromised by altered transcripts; and (iv) cross-evaluate the fAD transcriptional signatures detected against published datasets from sporadic AD (sAD) patients. During my secondment at the Institute of Neurosciences (Alicante, Spain), I will be excellently trained in wet-lab assays to acquire practical skills in shRNA delivery and cell line manipulation within the context of neurodegeneration.
This work will provide critical insights into the transcriptional mechanisms underlying fAD pathogenesis, aiming to inform the identification of novel RNA therapeutic strategies with applications in sAD.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology neurodegenerative diseases dementia alzheimer
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology pathophysiology
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
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Programme(s)
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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28006 Madrid
Spain
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