# Vermont Immunology/Infectious Diseases Center

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE · 2020 · $390,000

## Abstract

There is growing recognition that Alzheimer's Disease (AD) involves more than the aggregation
of amyloid-β proteins and hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, as individuals have been identified
with these abnormalities yet without clinical evidence of AD. This supplement hypothesizes that
excessive glial reactivity, with resulting production of inflammatory mediators, critically disrupts
hippocampal microcircuit dynamics via neuronal death and synaptic pruning, and thus leads to
impaired memory. We propose to use RNAseq in a murine model of AD to identify candidate glial
genes that predict abnormal microcircuit dynamics, thereby generating specific
pathophysiological and therapeutic hypotheses. It is likely that multiple genes will be identified
and therefore we will also develop a Drosophila pipeline to directly test those hypotheses as well
as other candidate molecules in a high-throughput AD system. These studies combine the
expertise of two neuroscientists who study hippocampal microcircuits in epilepsy, two
neuroimmunologists who study microglia and astrocytes in the murine model of multiple sclerosis,
and a neuroscientist who studies glial function in the Drosophila nervous system. Although this
team of scientists has not previously worked on AD, they provide a fresh perspective of AD that
is well grounded in their area of expertise. The hypothesis also fits well with the overall theme of
the parent COBRE grant in Immunology and Infectious Diseases, whose faculty are examining
various aspects of innate immunity, which is highly relevant to AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10123356
- **Project number:** 3P30GM118228-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Ralph C Budd
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $390,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-08-05 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10123356

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10123356, Vermont Immunology/Infectious Diseases Center (3P30GM118228-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10123356. Licensed CC0.

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