Meet the team: TOFU
The TOFU team is comprised of one PhD, one master’s and two medical students from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and the University of Pisa, Italy. They want study the effect of hypergravity treatment on a neurodegenerative model in vitro.
Effect of hypergravity On tau Function
| University | Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and University of Pisa (Italy) |
| Endorsing professor |
Debora Angeloni, PhD (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies) |
| Team | Valerio Mignucci, Davide De Luca, Attilio Sica, Federico Lo Re |
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is one of the most important forms of dementia that develop during ageing. The overall molecular basis governing its onset are still obscure. One of the main pathological feature of AD is the presence of insoluble aggregates of the protein tau. When tau is deregulated, probably through hyper-phosphorylation, it detaches from microtubules that are a crucial component of the cell cytoskeleton, the structure that enables the cell to hold a shape, adhere and move on a surface. As a result of detachment, microtubules disassemble, leading toneuronal dysfunction and death.
Microgravity experienced by astronauts causes the onset of an ageing-like phenotype, shared also by bedridden individuals, affecting bones, muscles, the cardiovascular system and the brain.Hypergravity(hyper-g) counteracts the effects of microgravity in some respects, and has been proposed as a possible treatment for these pathologies.
During the SYT! 2020 campaign, taking advantage of the Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC), the TOFU team will investigate the effect of hyper-g on a model of AD in vitro.
The TOFU group designed an experiment in which the biological model will be stimulated at 10 g and 20 g and compared with relevant controls, also in combination with a drug of interest.
Afterwards, changes of cell morphology and gene transcription will be studied, to evaluate a possible hypergravity-related protection or prevention from cytoskeletal degeneration.