Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari
Miami Miller School of Medicine,USA
Title: Inflammasome Regulation in the Aging Brain
Biography
Biography: Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari
Abstract
The inflammasome plays a key role in the regulation of the innate immune inflammatory response in the central nervous system (CNS). The inflammasome regulates the activation of the inflammatory caspase; caspase-1 and the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and IL-18. The inflammatory response is regulated differently at different stages of the aging cycle. This presentation will cover the regulation of the inflammasome in the brain as a result of naturally occurring aging in the brain of aged mice (18 months) when compared to younger mice (3 months). In addition, I will discuss the regulation of the inflammasome in the brain of reproductive senescent female rats when compared to the brain of young female rats. Taken together, our data indicate that the inflammasome is up-regulated in the brain as a result of aging. Importantly, inhibition of the inflammasome in the aging brain results in improvement in cognitive performance as determined by water maze testing in rats. In conclusion, our findings indicate that the inflammasome is a potential therapeutic target to inhibit inflammation in the aging brain, which could further protect from the development of neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.