Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Alzheimers disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, and it is one of the leading causes of death globally. Identifying early signs of AD is of paramount importance as it allows us to differentiate those at risk and provide early therapeutic intervention. A loss in the ability to smell is observed early in individuals who develop diseases of the nervous system, including AD. In fact, smell deficits can be observed more than a decade before the onset of cognitive symptoms of AD. While this phenomenon has been well documented, the cause of this loss of smell in AD remains unknown. To our knowledge, we will be the first group to examine protein expression in the olfactory system of specific rat and mouse models of AD. We expect to detect differences in protein expression in these rat and mouse models of AD compared to normal, healthy rats and mice. We will then determine the identity of these proteins that displayed changes in expression. Next, we will determine when these specific proteins are being expressed and by what cell types. Finally, we will assess whether protein changes are consistent across species. As this is the first study of its kind, our results will offer unique insights to improve our understanding of the loss of smell in AD. Future directions include determining whether changes in olfactory protein expression in rat and mouse models of AD can be translated to human patients with AD. This study may reveal proteins that indicate an individual is at a heightened risk of developing AD. Nasal biopsies could potentially be used to detect these protein markers, making it a useful tool for clinical assessment. A timely diagnosis provided by a nasal biopsy would allow for early therapeutic intervention to minimize the risk of developing AD.