Home Department: Undeclared
Mentor: Thomas Südhof (Molecular & Cellular Physiology)

"Functional Dissection of LRP3 in ApoE Isoform-Dependent Neural Pathways Relevant to Alzheimer’s Disease"

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating, incurable neurodegenerative disorder. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) isoform 4 is Alzheimer’s largest known genetic risk factor. ApoE receptors have been proposed, but it remains unclear which receptor mediates the key disease-related pathway. While the laboratory systematically characterizes putative receptors, Kaitlyn will focus on LRP3, an understudied receptor. Kaitlyn will use CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out LRP3 in cultured human neurons and measure resulting changes in neuronal morphology, synapse numbers, and synaptic strength and activity. Comparing these results with data from other receptors will help clarify which pathways most strongly influence synaptic function and guide future therapeutic studies.