Grant: Project Grant

The principal energy fuel of the brain is sugar. From the bloodstream, sugars are taken up by the cells of the blood vessels and are then further provided to cells in the brain. Specialized transport proteins are needed for the sugar uptake, the most important transporter in the brain is glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1). In the most common neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer's disease, the amount of GLUT1 transporters is much lower and the affected brains utilize less glucose as compared to healthy controls. Consequently, the restriction of energy to the brain itself may contribute to neurodegeneration. It is therefore imperative to understand how GLUT1 is regulated at the molecular level. My laboratory discovered a novel GLUT1-regulating mechanism inside the cell. We aim to understand this mechanism in detail to learn if this molecular pathway could be used to ameliorate Alzheimer's disease symptoms.