“Imaging Lipids in the Vulnerable Brain”
Shawn Whitehead, PhD Assistant Professor, Depts. Anatomy and Cell Biology; Clinical Neurological Sciences, Western University
Abstract:
We
are
only
just
experiencing
the
beginning
phase
of
an
unusually
large
cohort
of
aged
individuals,
an
age
group
that
is
associated
with
a
significant
increase
in
the
occurrence
of
devastating
brain
diseases
and
injuries
such
as
Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's,
ALS
and
Stroke
that
affect
millions
of
Canadians.
A
major
complication
to
understanding
the
mechanism
responsible
for
brain
deterioration
in
neurodegenerative
disorders
and
injury
is
that
no
brain
disorder
occurs
in
isolation.
Therefore
other
brain
and
vascular
co-morbid
conditions
may
play
a
key
role
in
the
pathogenesis
of
brain
disease
and
injury.
Lipids
contained
within
different
cellular
compartments
of
the
brain
have
the
ability
to
change
their
structure
to
meet
their
external
and
internal
environmental
demands.
This
ability
to
‘shape-shift’
may
explain
why
certain
regions
of
the
brain
possess
differential
levels
of
vulnerability
to
stress.
The
major
roadblock
in
understanding
how
lipids
work
and
interact
(lipidomics)
within
the
brain,
is
a
lack
of
fundamental
methodology
to
image
these
lipids
in
situ.
This
talk
will
discuss
the
use
of
molecular
imaging
in
combination
with
mass
spectrometry
analysis
to
detect
and
characterize
the
composition
of
membrane
lipids
to
understand
the
role
that
they
play
in
conferring
vulnerability
to
different
types
of
neurological
insults
in
in
vitro
and
in
vivo
animal
models
of
brain
injury
as
well
as
validating
these
findings
in
post-mortem
brain
tissue
obtained
from
human
patients
with
brain
disease.
If
you
are
interested
in
meeting
with
Dr.
Whitehead,
please
email
John
Mielke
Pay
parking
available
in
lots
B
or
N.
Event
is
FREE
and
there
will
be
coffee/cookies
available.