# T cells in the aging brain

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $200,720

## Abstract

SUMMARY
The overarching goal of our project is to understand how immune cells impact the brain during aging, with the
objective of restoring old brain function. The brain has long been considered an ‘immuno-privileged organ’.
However, emerging studies have shown that immune cells infiltrate the brain in neurodegenerative diseases
such as Alzheimer’s disease and during aging. A key remaining challenge is to understand how immune cells
impact the brain during aging and to determine how to use this knowledge to restore functionality of old brain
and treat neurodegenerative diseases? We have been performing single cell transcriptomic studies to
understand how interventions that affect inflammation and immune cell infiltration impact the function of cells in
the brain. New experiments are currently underway, with studies of mice treated with engineered checkpoint
inhibitors, anti-inflammatory cytokines, and injury stimuli, forming the initial foundations. Importantly, we have in
parallel spearheaded new spatial transcriptomics studies. This recent work has revealed an unprecedented
glimpse into how T cells impact their neighboring cells. These findings would not be possible to assess with
single cell RNA-seq experiments, as those are from dissociated cells and lose spatial information. Thus, we are
submitting this proposal for an Administrative Supplement to apply spatial transcriptomics to one cohort of mice
to explore the power of this technology to drive future studies of spatial brain aging. This work should give a
fundamental understanding of the mechanistic impact of T cell on different cell types in the brain. Knowledge
from our study should pave the way for building transformative strategies, including new immunotherapies, for
the restoration of a pristine tissue, which will be a critical step for improving brain function during aging and age-
related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10974426
- **Project number:** 3R01AG071711-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** ANNE BRUNET
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $200,720
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-06-15 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10974426

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10974426, T cells in the aging brain (3R01AG071711-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10974426. Licensed CC0.

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