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Natural sciences
- Lipidomics
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Medical and health sciences
- Innate immunity
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Neurological and neuromuscular diseases
- Lipids
Lipid accumulation in microglia is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). These lipid loaded microglia are associated with disease pathology and enhance neuroinflammation, myelin breakdown, and neuronal loss. Although brain lipid metabolism is known to be altered in MS and AD for a long time, and many genetic risk variants are linked to lipid metabolism, little is known about how these changes are connected to accumulation of lipids in microglia and how this promotes neurodegeneration. In this project, we aim to elucidate how lipid metabolism controls microglia-neuron interaction by bringing together unique expertise in Flanders on MS, AD and innovative technologies and models. By combining this knowhow, we will gain novel insights in the link between altered lipid metabolism and neurodegeneration which can provide new, more effective targets to prevent neurological decline.