Neuroepigenetics of Ageing and Dementia

My laboratory is interested in studying how aberrant epigenetic regulations of gene transcription contribute to physiological and pathological ageing. We have shown that reduced membrane cholesterol in normal ageing impairs the transcription of plasticity genes as precludes the normal synapse-to-nucleus signalling upon synaptic stimulation. Now we are interested in studying how changes in cholesterol levels lead to a switch in the transcription of genes from memory-associated genes in the adult to survival genes in the old. For this project, we will use a range of molecular techniques including qPCR or chromatin immunoprecipitation from neuronal cultures, acute hippocampal slices and mouse brain samples.