The Fukuchi Alzheimer’s Lab
Dr. Fukuchi’s lab focuses on Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis and therapy.
Overview Heading link
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and currently afflicts more than 6 million Americans. However, no satisfactory treatment is available. In Dr. Fukuchi’s laboratory, the pathogenesis of AD is investigated for development of the prevention and treatment of AD. Dr. Fukuchi’s lab contributed to developing novel vaccination modalities against AD and optimized the efficacy and safety of gene therapy modalities against AD using animal models of AD.
The pathogenetic role of the immune system and immunotherapy in Alzheimer’s disease
Dr. Fukuchi’s lab focuses on deciphering the molecular mechanism by which the immune system
contributes to the development and progression of AD. The lab is investigating the roles of microglia,
microglia-astrocyte crosstalk, neuron-glia crosstalk and peripheral immune cells at the cellular level, and of toll-like receptor, inflammasome, and interferon signaling pathways at the molecular level, in the AD development.
Approaches
To accomplish these research goals, the lab takes interdisciplinary approaches using:
- Molecular biology
- Transgenic/gene targeting approach
- In vitro cell culture models
- Immunology
- Bone-marrow stem-cell transplantation
- Gene therapy
- Bioinformatics
- Behavioral neuroscience
