Investigation of FadA adhesin from Fusobacterium nucleatum

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R01 · $380,864 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), a Gram-negative anaerobe, is one of the most prevalent oral species associated with extra-oral infections and inflammation, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Serum anti-Fn antibody levels have been found to be significantly higher in AD patients compared to the controls. We have recently discovered that the FadA adhesin of Fn exhibits amyloid-like properties. The amyloid-like FadA mediates binding and invasion of host cells. Accumulation of amyloid proteins is a hallmark of AD. Therefore, we hypothesize that amyloid- like FadA plays a role in AD. Testing this hypothesis is a natural extension of our parent R01, which investigates the role of amyloid-like FadA in Fn virulence, yet not focused on AD. Thus, this supplement application is responsive to the following Notice of Special Interest: Alzheimer’s-focused administrative supplements for NIH grants that are not focused on Alzheimer’s disease (NOT-AG-20-034). We propose to examine the presence of Fn and amyloid-like FadA in AD specimens and compare to matched controls. The ability of amyloid- like FadA in inducing AD-associated pathologies will be examined in both in vitro and in vivo models. Results from this study will shed novel lights on the etiology and mechanism of AD.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10289048
Project number
3R01DE029532-02S1
Recipient
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
Principal Investigator
Yiping Han
Activity code
R01
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$380,864
Award type
3
Project period
2020-09-10 → 2025-08-31