Chunyu Wang, M.D., Ph.
D., professor of biological sciences and chemistry and chemical biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been awarded a five-year grant of more than $3.7 million by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging to study Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) isoform interactions with heparan sulfate (HS) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
“At first, my research was motivated by my curiosity of how the brain and memory work,” said Wang. “However, over the years, I have known many people affected by Alzheimer’s disease, so I am more and more motivated by the urgent need for discovering more effective, safer, and affordable drugs for Alzheimer’s disease.” According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in nine people aged 65 and older has Alzheimer’s.
That’s 6.9 million Americans living with the disease, and millions more who are caring for them. What is already a startling number is projected to grow as our aging population does, and by 2050, 12.
7 million Americans aged 65 and older will have Alzheimer’s. “With this funding, we will explore how ApoE isoforms modulate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease through their distinct interactions with heparan sulfate,” said Wang. “Ultimately, we hope to discover new therapy strategies for Alzheimer’s disease.
” ApoE is a protein that combines with lipid molecules to shuttle cholesterol throughout the body, including from astrocytes to neurons in the brain. One of the ApoE genotypes.
