Neuro-ocular clearance pathways - Mechanisms and clinical applications
Project information
Project duration
-
Funded by
Multiple sources (Spearhead projects of centres for multidisciplinary research)
Project coordinator
University of Oulu
Contact information
Contact person
Project description
The central nervous system (CNS) is metabolically highly active tissue. The metabolic load requires an efficient system to remove the resulting waste and excessive fluid. Failures in the clearance and drainage mechanisms have been recently implicated in neurodegenerative diseases in the brains and in the visual pathway (neural retina and optic nerve).
The potential CNS drainage mechanisms include dural lymphatic vasculature and parenchymal glymphatic system that is driven by cardiovascular pulsations. The visual pathway lack lymphatic support and the clearance mechanisms are unclear.
In this project, we aim to functionally map and compare the CNS clearance/drainage pathways in mice and man and investigate tailored techniques to enhance these pathways in order to develop therapies for diseases that affect CNS. Goals will be reached through an integrated effort of two research groups from different disciplines with highly complementary expertise in endothelial cell and molecular biology, advanced microscopic imaging, clinical research and human neuroimaging.
We belong to the Academy of Finland funded “Health from Science Program” (OPEN consortium 2018-2022), H2020-MSCA-ITN V.A. Cure doctoral training program (2018-2022) and Euro-BioImaging ERIC imaging infrastructure networks well complementing our aims in this Biocenter Oulu spearhead project.