# New Treatment Strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease

> **NIH NIH R21** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2020 · $199,375

## Abstract

Summary
 The goal of this study is to discover novel, mechanism-based pharmacological intervention for
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. Emerging data suggest that
epigenetic mechanisms are central to alterations in gene expression patterns and the ensuing synaptic
dysfunctions and behavioral symptoms in AD. Our preliminary studies showed significantly elevated levels of
histone modification mark H3K4me3 and its catalyzing enzyme Kmt3e in prefrontal cortex from AD human
postmortem tissues and Tau transgenic mouse model of AD. We propose to investigate the hypothesis that
Kmt3e inhibitors are able to ameliorate cognitive deficits associated with AD by normalizing gene expression
and synaptic functions. To test this, both AD mouse models and AD patient-specific neurons will be used to
address two specific aims with combined biochemical, molecular, electrophysiological and behavioral
approaches. In Aim 1, we will identify the therapeutic potential of Kmt3e-targeting agents on cognitive and
synaptic deficits in AD mouse models. To translate the findings from animal studies to AD patients, in Aim 2,
we will generate and compare human neurons derived from AD patients and age-matched control subjects,
and examine the capability of Kmt3e inhibitors to reverse synaptic deficits in AD human neurons. Results from
this project may lead to new and effective pharmacological agents to treat cognitive and synaptic deficits of
AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9981141
- **Project number:** 1R21AG067597-01
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** JIAN FENG
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $199,375
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-15 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9981141

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9981141, New Treatment Strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease (1R21AG067597-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9981141. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*