Multi-Modal Neuroimaging to Assess Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease Prevention in an APOE4 Mouse Model

Our goal is to use novel, state-of-the-art neuroimaging and microscopic methods to identify Rapamycin’s potential for preventing AD in mice that are APOE4 carriers. We will also use a novel preclinical mouse model that overexpresses human Aâ via 5 familial-AD (5xFAD) mutations, and expresses human APOE4 (E4FAD) or APOE3 (E3FAD). We will feed 2-month old cognitively intact mice (before they have Aâ deposition in brain) with Rapamycin or vehicle control diet for 16 weeks, and test the hypothesis. Our project will for the first time use multimodal in vivo neuroimaging and microscopy to determine the potential effectiveness of Rapamycin in preventing AD-related deficits using an APOE4 mouse model. The results will have tremendous positive impact — these imaging methods will dramatically enhance future research for identifying potential therapeutics using animal models in AD-related fields. In addition, Rapamycin is FDA-approved, so our results may provide valuable information for future Rapamycin clinical trials to prevent dementia for pre-symptomatic APOE4 carriers.