R35NS122140

LA Spada Outstanding Investigator Award - Abstract

I have been studying neurodegenerative disease for more than 30 years. While a graduate student, I identified the cause of X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) as the expansion of a CAG repeat in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. As the first disorder shown to be caused by a CAG – polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat tract, this discovery led to the emergence of a new field.

My research program began with emphasis on 2 polyQ disorders: SBMA and spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7). My early work established transcription dysregulation as a key factor in polyQ disease pathogenesis. I initiated research on Huntington's disease (HD) and linked mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic deficits in HD to transcription dysregulation of PGC-1A, a transcription co-activator.

In 2016, I documented an interaction between PPARD and huntingtin (HTT) protein in striatal-like neurons and in the cerebral cortex of HD mice, and I demonstrated that PPARD repression contributes to HD neurotoxicity. These findings led me to repurpose a selective and potent PPARD agonist, KD3010, as capable of rescuing HTT neurotoxicity in HD transgenic mice and in medium spiny neurons from HD patient stem cells.

Concomitant with my HD research, I uncovered a central role for skeletal muscle in SBMA by demonstrating that excision of mutant AR transgene from skeletal muscle in BAC conditional transgenic mice prevented the development of neuromuscular SBMA phenotypes, establishing the importance of skeletal muscle – motor neuron (MN) communication at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) for SBMA lower MN disease.

I have thus continuously maintained NINDS R01 funding to support my SBMA research since 2000 and have held NINDS R01 funding to support my HD research since 2010. During this time frame, my research has increasingly focused on identification of targets and pathways for development of therapies.

As a R35 recipient, I will continue my research on the cellular and molecular basis of polyQ neurodegeneration, embracing opportunities to extend our findings to more common neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). One major focus will be to define the basis of SBMA muscle-driven MN disease through skeletal muscle and NMJ transcriptome analysis of SBMA model mice and stem cell modeling to recapitulate non-cell autonomous SBMA MN degeneration.

I also intend to pursue studies of HD and PPARD by determining the normal function of PPARD in the central nervous system (CNS) and defining how PPARD activation achieves neuroprotection. I will follow up on exciting findings linking PPARD neuroprotection to regulation of neuronal activity-dependent gene expression and will test if blunting of rapid primary response gene expression can ameliorate HD phenotypes. As PPARD is highly expressed in microglia and represses neuroinflammation, I will study PPARD function in microglia and test if PPARD dysregulation plays a role in neurodegenerative disease.

R35 funding would provide me with the flexibility to pursue novel, ambitious studies of polyQ disease, expand my research program to encompass emerging areas of pathogenesis, and maintain a lasting commitment to translational research and therapy development for neurodegeneration.

Irvine University Of California

(1) TO SUPPORT EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE (NINDS) INCLUDING: BASIC RESEARCH THAT EXPLORES THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND THE CAUSES AND ORIGINS OF PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH THE GOAL OF PREVENTING THESE DISORDERS, RESEARCH ON THE NATURAL COURSE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, IMPROVED METHODS OF DISEASE PREVENTION, NEW METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT, DRUG DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPMENT OF NEURAL DEVICES, CLINICAL TRIALS, AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE. THE INSTITUTE IS THE LARGEST FUNDER OF BASIC NEUROSCIENCE IN THE US AND SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON TOPICS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: DEVELOPMENT OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCLUDING NEUROGENESIS AND PROGENITOR CELL BIOLOGY, SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN DEVELOPMENT AND PLASTICITY, AND PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH, SYNAPSE FORMATION, FUNCTION, AND PLASTICITY, LEARNING AND MEMORY, CHANNELS, TRANSPORTERS, AND PUMPS, CIRCUIT FORMATION AND MODULATION, BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE, SENSORIMOTOR LEARNING, INTEGRATION AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, NEUROENDOCRINE SYSTEMS, SLEEP AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, AND SENSORY AND MOTOR SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION, THE INSTITUTE SUPPORTS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES ON A NUMBER OF DISORDERS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO): STROKE, TRAUMATIC INJURY TO THE BRAIN, SPINAL CORD AND PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS, MOVEMENT DISORDERS, BRAIN TUMORS, CONVULSIVE DISORDERS, INFECTIOUS DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM, IMMUNE DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCLUDING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, DISORDERS RELATED TO SLEEP, AND PAIN. PROGRAMMATIC AREAS, WHICH ARE PRIMARILY SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE, ARE ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES, THE DIVISION OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, THE DIVISION OF CLINICAL RESEARCH, THE OFFICE OF TRAINING AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, THE OFFICE OF PROGRAMS TO ENHANCE NEUROSCIENCE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, AND THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES. (2) TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. TO UTILIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM, TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.853 - Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NNDS) [HHS - NIH]

Irvine, California 92617 United States

Single Zip Code

Research Program Award (R35 Clinical Trial Optional) (RFA-NS-20-030)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 503% from $995,408 to $6,002,158.