Miriam ScarpaKarolinska Institutet | KI · Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS)
Miriam Scarpa
Doctor of Philosophy
About
7
Publications
1,275
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Introduction
MRC-CASE-funded PhD student in Translational Pharmacology in collaboration with Eli Lilly.
My research focuses on assessing the effect of pharmacologically targeting the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChR's) on neurodegeneration, particularly Alzheimer's disease. At the moment, I am interested on dissecting the downstream signalling pathways of the M1 mAChR to define which ones are responsible for desired physiological effects in the context of neurodegeneration, and which ones cause detrimental side effects when activating the receptor. To achieve this, I have been employing unique transgenic mouse models expressing a G protein-biased mutant of the receptor, in combination with murine prion infections.
Additional affiliations
October 2017 - October 2021
Education
September 2013 - June 2017
Publications
Publications (7)
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large family of cell surface receptors that play a critical role in nervous system function by transmitting signals between cells and their environment. They are involved in many, if not all, nervous system processes, and their dysfunction has been linked to various neurological disorders representing impor...
Many dementias are propagated through the spread of “prion-like” misfolded proteins. This includes prion diseases themselves (such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), for which no treatments are available to slow or stop progression. The M 1 acetylcholine muscarinic receptor (M 1 receptor) is abundant in the brain, and its a...
Significance
The M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M1-receptor) plays a crucial role in learning and memory and is a validated drug target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Furthermore, M1-receptor ligands have been demonstrated to display disease-modifying effects in preclinical models of neurodegenerative disease. By employing a...
The most prevalent types of dementias, including Alzheimer's disease, are those that are propagated via the spread of 'prion-like' misfolded proteins. Despite considerable effort, no treatments are available to slow or stop the progression of these dementias. Here, we investigate the possibility that activation of the M1-muscarinic receptor (M1-rec...
Cholinesterase inhibitors, the current frontline symptomatic treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), are associated with low efficacy and adverse effects. M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M1 mAChRs) represent a potential alternate therapeutic target; however, drug discovery programs focused on this G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) have faile...
The M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) plays a crucial role in learning and memory processes and has long been identified as a promising therapeutic target for the improvement of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). As such, clinical trials with xanomeline, a mAChR orthosteric agonist, showed an improvement in cognitive and beha...
The oxidation of methionine residues in proteins occurs during oxidative stress and can lead to an alteration in protein function. The enzyme methionine sulfoxide reductase reverses this modification. Here we characterise the mammalian enzyme methionine sulfoxide reductase B3. There are two splice variants of this enzyme that differ only in their N...
