# The Mechanisms of Homer1a Transcription and Dynamics with Persistent mTOR in Alzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH F31** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $45,520

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Approximately 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 have Alzheimer's disease (AD), a devastating illness that
cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed. Hence there is an urgent need to identify novel therapeutic
targets and biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease. Accumulating evidence suggests that in AD the brain is
unable to process information properly due to faulty synaptic plasticity, the molecular driver of learning and
memory. Homer1a is a protein expressed in response to neuronal activity that is essential for various forms of
synaptic plasticity. Further, Homer1a expression is disrupted in mouse AD models as well as AD patient
samples. Despite this information, the mechanism behind activity-induced Homer1a expression, as well as how
this is disrupted in AD, remains unclear. We recently characterized a mouse model of persistent mTOR
signaling, a characteristic often reported in AD, and generated data showing that Homer1a inducibility is lost in
this model. The proposed research project combines molecular biology, gene expression techniques, and
various in vivo and in vitro models of neuronal activity to elucidate the mechanisms of Homer1a expression
and determine how these mechanisms are disrupted in persistent mTOR signaling and AD. Completion of the
proposed study on this gene essential for plasticity and dysregulated in AD will shed light on its regulatory
mechanisms, both physiologically and pathologically, which may lead to new therapeutic strategies and
potential biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10065890
- **Project number:** 1F31AG064816-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Lisa Nicole Learman
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $45,520
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10065890

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10065890, The Mechanisms of Homer1a Transcription and Dynamics with Persistent mTOR in Alzheimer's Disease (1F31AG064816-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10065890. Licensed CC0.

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