PLOS Science Wednesday: Hi Reddit, we’re Courtney Lane-Donovan and Joachim Herz, and in a PLOS ONE study we examined how a high-fat diet effects levels of ApoE isoforms in mice, which are known to impact Alzheimer’s risk – Ask Us Anything!

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Hi Reddit,

My name is Courtney Lane-Donovan, and I am an MD/PhD student in Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. I’m interested in the underlying biology of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease) and finding new molecular mechanisms that could be targeted for future drug development.

My name is Joachim Herz, I am a Professor of Molecular Genetics and Neuroscience with a specific interest in lipid metabolism and the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and therapeutic approaches that Courtney has mentioned. My claim to fame is that I was Courtney’s MD/PhD mentor. In the meantime, our roles seem to have reversed, as I have the feeling that I am the one who is learning more from Courtney each day.

We recently published a paper titled “High-Fat Diet Changes Hippocampal Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) in a Genotype- and Carbohydrate-Dependent Manner in Mice” in PLOS ONE.

Alzheimer’s disease affects 1 in 8 individuals over the age of 65. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is increased by lifestyle factors, including a high-fat “Western” diet and high cholesterol, as well as genetic risk factors. Our research is centered on one of the most common genetic risk factors: apolipoprotein (ApoE). Individuals who have the e4 isoform of ApoE (ApoE4, about 15% of the population) have a three-fold increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. ApoE has many roles in the brain, including cholesterol transport and neuronal function.

In this study, we looked at the effect of a known lifestyle effect – high-fat diet – on levels of ApoE in the brain in mice expressing the different ApoE isoforms. We found that while the diet reduced levels of brain ApoE in mice expressing ApoE3, it did not affect the levels in mice expressing ApoE4 or mouse ApoE.

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">PLOS Science Wednesday: Hi Reddit, we’re Courtney Lane-Donovan and Joachim Herz, and in a PLOS ONE study we examined how a high-fat diet effects levels of ApoE isoforms in mice, which are known to impact Alzheimer’s risk – Ask Us Anything!