Mitochondria and Synapses in the aging brain

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Evaluation of the Effects of Age on Synaptic Density and Mitochondrial Status – MIND-MAPS-Aging

  • IRAS ID

    218193

  • Contact name

    Eugenii Rabiner

  • Contact email

    ilan.rabiner@imanova.co.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Imanova Limited

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 0 months, 29 days

  • Research summary

    We will explore the function of mitochondria (the cell’s “power stations”) in people of various ages. Mitochondrial function is thought to decline with age and disease. We want to see what happens to the mitochondria in healthy people with increasing age, and we will use PET scanning to non-invasively look at the mitochondria in the brains of healthy individuals of various ages.

    PET scanning is a technique that uses very low amounts of radioactively labelled ligands (molecules used to “tag” a specific protein) to image the body. In this study we will use the ligands [11C]SA4503 and [11C]UCB-J to label proteins associated with the mitochondria, called sigma-1 receptors (s1R) and a protein called SV2A which is a marker of synapses - a specialised area of the neuron that will get damaged when mitochondria dysfunction.

    Up to 24 healthy volunteers aged between 20 to 85 years will attend Imanova for 2 study visits. During visit 2 [11C]SA4503 and [11C]UCB-J PET scans will be performed and an MRI scan of the brain (which examines brain structure using non-radioactive methods, and is used to help analyse the PET scans).

    The maximal amount of blood collected over the whole study will not exceed 500ml – similar to the amount collected when donating blood. The study will be performed at Imanova, an imaging centre jointly owned by Imperial, King’s and University Colleges and the Medical Research Council, and is part of a collaboration called MIND-MAPS between Imanova, Imperial and King’s Colleges, London and a pharmaceutical company (AbbVie Inc.), designed to investigate new methods to detect neurodegeneration. Other studies funded by collaboration will examine patients with Alzheimer’s and
    Parkinson’s diseases and other molecular targets. All data collected will be published and made available to academic researchers.

  • REC name

    East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    17/EE/0048

  • Date of REC Opinion

    4 Apr 2017

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion