Similarly,
Target interneurons treat brain diseases:
In the brain. For example, there are few -numerous cells but essential for the regulation of neural networks: they are called inhibitory interneurons. When they malfunction, these “control stations” promote the appearance of psychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases. Nevertheless, Fani Koukouli studies their operation, with the objective of developing new treatments.
At first glance. In addition, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease are two very different pathologies: the first generally appears at the start of adulthood, while the second touches the elderly. However, The first manifests itself first by hallucinations or delusions, while the second is primarily associated with target interneurons treat brain diseases memory disorders. However. Meanwhile, they have one thing in common: both can be linked to the dysfunction of a group of particular neurons, the interneurons. Nevertheless, These minority nerve cells in the brain have very important inhibitory properties for the good balance of local neural circuits. For example, especially those of the prefrontal cortex which are associated with Cognitive functions higher (language, reasoning, working memory, etc.). Therefore, It is to these interneurons that Fani Koukouli. Similarly, Inserm researcher, dedicated her career as a scientist since her doctorate in neuroscience, led to the Pasteur Institute. Moreover, “” My work then aimed to understand the role of nicotine on the activity of the brain. Similarly, I have shown that this molecule can locally modulate the activation or inhibition of prefrontal cortex neurons. More specifically, nicotine binds to receptors present on interneurons and thus modifies their activity. Furthermore. I observed target interneurons treat brain diseases a cortical sub-activation in mice whose nicotine receptors carry a mutation which predisposes humans to dependence on nicotine and schizophreniareports the researcher. In mice. it is possible to restore a normal activity of the prefrontal cortex by modulating the activation of mutated nicotine receptors. One might think that it could be the same in patients with mutation. »
Target interneurons treat brain diseases
A vocation born in college
For Fani Koukouli. this therapeutic perspective is all the more exciting since it echoes its initial vocation. “” I hope to develop pharmacological treatments for psychiatric diseases from collegeshe says. This idea came to me after our singing teacher took my class to a psychiatry service to give a. Christmas concert. I had many stereotypes in mind. But after meeting the patients and discovered the artistic works they exhibited on the spot, I was fascinated. I wanted to understand how the brain works in target interneurons treat brain diseases these situations. This is how she decides to study the pharmacy to then specialize in neuroscience. And at the end of her master’s degree obtained from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki in Greece, she joined France.
Her doctorate in her pocket. she continues her research at the Pasteur Institute in the Uwe Maskos team, more specifically interested in Alzheimer’s disease. She observes that certain nicotine receptors are the target of peptides Beta-amyloids. these proteins whose neuronal accumulation is toxic and leads to the appearance of dementia. She then joined the Alberto Bacci team at the Brain Institute, where she deepens her expertise on inhibitory interneurons. Because in reality, ” There are several types of inhibitory interneurons. Each has different properties and receivers. Knowing better their diversity makes it possible to better understand the different roles they play in cognition. In this laboratory, she expands knowledge of several families of target interneurons treat brain diseases interneurons and receptors, and uses new methods of experimentation. The originality. the fruits of his work have already been praised by several prizes, including the Gandy Prix de la Chancellerie des Universités de Paris, the L’Oréal-Unesco Prize, the Unafam Prize or the France Alzheimer Prize.
Between bench. clinic
Thanks to this luggage of expertise, Fani Koukouli obtained in 2023 at the ATIP-AVENIR funding which enabled him to settle permanently in France by creating his own research group at the Institut de Psychiatrie et de neuroscience in Paris (IPNP). With this team. which now has two post-doctoral students, a doctoral student, a study engineer and several master’s students, she continues to explore how acetylcholine, a key neuromediator of cognition, acts on the different types of interneurons, according to their location, their type and the receivers they express. “” We also study how these ways can be modified in psychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases target interneurons treat brain diseases “, She specifies. For this, she meets genetic tools, imaging and behavioral or electrophysiological experiments. “” We also seek to know how the signals coming from other regions of the brain influence these interneurons. »
And the researcher keeps the therapeutic perspectives online in sight: ” We were able to test different molecules capable of fixing on nicotine receptors. restoring normal prefrontal operation She reports. Some could soon be tested in humans. Installed in the heart of the Sainte-Anne hospital campus. Fani Koukouli and his team benefit from the direct proximity of clinicians: “ It is the ideal environment for establishing collaborations and launching projects Translational research. Based on the mechanisms we have identified in mice. we are setting up a project with patients with schizophrenia who suffer in particular from less good cognitive flexibility than others, that is to say difficulty adapting their behavior in a given target interneurons treat brain diseases situation, or quickly passing from one idea to another. We will test molecules whose safety is already established. which have shown their ability to modulate receptors carrying genetic particularities that promote the disease. »
Fani Koukouli is an inserm researcher at the Institut de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences de Paris (IPNP, Unit 1266 Inserm/University Paris-Cité).
Author: CG
Target interneurons treat brain diseases
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