Leo Capozzi

Alzheimer’s disease affects the health and function of neurons in the brain, and is responsible for maintaining a person's ability to recall and consolidate information. Neurons function as the messengers of the brain. They relay information to each other through their synapses and over time, neural pathways or patterns of firing can be built as a result of the repetition of a movement or thought process. If the cell is damaged or its functions are hindered it cannot perform its duty to organize and process information. 3BDO is a compound that activates the nucleolus, a part of a cell that is responsible for keeping the cell healthy and for producing PARP-1, a protein that is responsible for the consolidation of long-term memory. The goal of this project is to look at how effective 3BDO can be for reversing damage to dying cells. HEK cells, an immortalized line of cells derived from the kidney from a mutation in the 70s, will be starved then will be incubated in 15µM and 60µM of 3BDO solution for 24hrs. HEK cells are used because they are easy to reproduce and maintain in high numbers.  The cells will be imaged to see the potential positive effects of the 3BDO exposure. If successful, this project will help confirm whether 3BDO can be used as a potential treatment to repair cells and prevent cell death in patients with Alzheimer’s and Dementia.