Lab Affiliation: Vivek Swarup Lab
Title: Unraveling Cellular Heterogeneity in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Abstract: Neuronal loss and damage are key features of various neurodegenerative diseases (ND). Despite extensive research, the exact etiology of gradual neuronal loss and disease progression remains largely unknown. Single-cell/nucleus transcriptomics holds promise in advancing our understanding of cellular heterogeneity, contributing to disease pathology. Due to the multifactorial nature of ND and the variations in experimental conditions, the translatability of findings and interpretability of data across studies can be challenging. In this talk, I plan to discuss preliminary analyses I have conducted on Alzheimer’s disease single-nuclei RNA-seq datasets as a specific case within the broader context of ND, as well as our approach to generating a harmonized dataset encompassing various NDs. This endeavor aims to eventually identify shared and distinct systems of interconnected genes and their regulatory interactions governing gene expression and cellular processing, which can contribute to the emergence of disease-causing cell subtypes.