Press release (Uni Lübeck)
19. April 2016
Press release of the University of Lübeck on the paper by Okbay A et al. in Nature Genetics.
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News
Three new genes identified for subjective well-being
18. April 2016
This study was coordinated by the Social Science Genetics Association Consortium (SSGAC) of which our group is a member via contributing data from the Berlin Aging Study II. In total, our study investigated the data of nearly 300,000 individuals searching for genetic determinants of subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism. Using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach, we identified 16 signals associated with one of more of the investigated phenotypes. Pinpointed loci tended to be involved in regulating gene expression in the central nervous system and adrenal or pancreas tissues. The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics.
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April 5th: CBBM lecture on amyloid pathology in Alzheimer’s by Prof. Visser (VU Amsterdam)
4. April 2016
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Novel guidelines for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease
22. March 2016
Our group has participated in a recent effort to formulate novel recommendations about the definitions, the limits, the natural history, the markers of progression, and the ethical consequence of detecting Alzheimer’s disease at its preclinical, asymptomatic stage. This work is the result of a workshop held by the International Working Group (IWG) and the American Alzheimer’s Association on “The Preclinical State of AD” on July 23, 2015; Washington DC, USA. The guidelines were recently published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
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March 8th: Seminar on micro RNAs in Alzheimer’s by Sebastien Hebert (Canada)
3. February 2016
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GWAS in >100,000 people identifies four novel loci for body fat
3. February 2016
For this study we participated in a consortium GWAS (genome-wide association study) meta-analysis on >100,000 individuals searching for novel loci underlying body fat and adiposity. The LIGA team contributed genome-wide data from the Berlin Aging Study II. Overall, a total of 12 genome-wide significant loci were identified of which four were novel. Additional analyses revealed associations of the body fat loci to a range of cardiometabolic traits providing new insights into the connection between adiposity and cardiovascular risk. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
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New results from the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II)
1. February 2016
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New insights into the role of APOE in multiple sclerosis
23. December 2015
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) represents the major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, but its role in other neuropsychiatric diseases is less well established. In this study, performed in collaboration with researchers from Ruhr University Bochum, we investigated the role of APOE in a transgenic mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). While our group had shown earlier that genetic variants in APOE do not significantly alter the risk for MS, they do appear to exert a modest effect in mice suffering from an experimental form of MS, highlighting – again – the challenges of translating results from animal models to the human condition. The study was published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
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LIGA researcher Christina Lill to receive Renate Maaß Award
3. November 2015
LIGA researcher Dr. Christina Lill is this year’s recipient of the Research Award of the Renate Maaß foundation. The award is granted annually to young scientists to honor their achievements in human brain research. The prize comes with a 5.000 € endowment and will be awarded at Lübeck city hall in a ceremony hosted by the University of Lübeck on November 4, 2015.
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Seven new risk loci for multiple sclerosis found
16. October 2015
In a large, international collaborative effort, LIGA researchers Lill and Bertram established seven novel genetic loci as genuine Multiple Sclerosis (MS) risk loci (i.e. LOC100506457, CD28, LPP, ETS1, DLEU1, LPIN3, and IFNGR2). To this end, they undertook an association study on >21,000 MS patients and healthy controls from Europe and Russia in which they evaluated 11 loci for their role in MS susceptibility. The majority of these loci are shared across autoimmune diseases. This study was published in the Journal of Medical Genetics..
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LIGA researchers spearhead study on TREM2 in neurodegenerative diseases
11. June 2015
A sequence variant in the TREM2 gene (R47H) was recently proposed as a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. In a large international effort, LIGA investigators Christina Lill and Lars Bertram coordinated the to-date largest and most conclusive genetic study on the role of TREM2 R47H in all major neurodegenerative diseases. The work was recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
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