Mental disorders such as Schizophrenia affect up to 5 million in Africa and epilepsy is the most widespread neurological disorder on the continent. Despite these impressive numbers the research and funding in these diseases is underrepresented and global efforts are desperately needed.
One common underlying pathology to these disorders is the loss or damage of inhibitory neurons, i.e. parvalbumin interneurons. In this project we will assess an attractive alternative strategy to restore these parvalbumin interneurons to the brain with direct reprogramming. With this technique brain resident cells such as glia can reprogram into interneurons directly in the brain using forced expression of neuronal genes, thus providing a patient-specific and fast cell therapy with high potential of circuitry restoration. Reprogramming could also open avenues for studying the African genetic cause of disease as patient skin cells can reprogram into interneurons in a dish with the same genetic background that cause the disease.
The project takes advantage of uniquely available human glia cells and mouse-, and human in vivo models that enable circuitry reconnection and assessment of symptoms restoration e.g. in schizophrenia. It aims to strengthen and develop reprogramming for cell-restorative therapy for diseases such as mental disorders.
