Celeste Karch, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry

Washington University School of Medicine

Host(s): Kapil Ramachandran (Faculty)

Defining molecular drivers of tauopathy using stem cell models

Tauopathies are a heterogenous group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by tau aggregation in the brain. In a subset of tauopathies, rare mutations in the MAPT gene, which encodes the tau protein, are sufficient to cause disease; however, the events downstream of MAPT mutations are poorly understood. The Karch lab uses stem cell derived neurons from patients carrying a MAPT p.P301L, IVS10 + 16, or p.R406W mutation and CRISPR-corrected isogenic controls to identify transcriptomic changes that occur as a function of the MAPT mutant allele. We have identified protein coding and non-coding changes that are commonly differentially expressed across the three MAPT mutations. We show that many of these transcriptomic changes also occur in a mouse model of tauopathy and in FTLD-tau, progressive supranuclear palsy, and Alzheimer's disease brains. This talk will highlight some of the most interesting transcriptomic change and the functional implications for tauopathy.

Relevant Publications: 

Mutant tau and stress lead to downregulation of long noncoding RNA, SNHG8

Venue Information:

Speaker Location: Jerome L. Greene Science Center, Kavli Auditorium, 9th Floor Lecture Hall

The Columbia Neuroscience Seminars have been organized to help build community and collaboration among researchers interested in this broad field across campus. The in-person activities, including the talks, provide meaningful interactions for the speakers, many of whom have traveled a long way to visit Columbia. However, if you are a Columbia researcher on another campus and are unable to attend the talk at the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, please email [email protected] at least 48 hours in advance to request an individual, one-time Zoom link (livestream only, no Q&A). 

If you have a short- or long-term accommodation request (medical issue, travel, other concerns, etc.), or any other questions, please also reach out to [email protected].

Tuesdays@10 is a signature Zuckerman Institute initiative that aims to expose researchers at all levels to high-quality science and stimulate scientific discourse. The speakers featured in this series represent various fields and techniques in neuroscience, and include invited guests of the Columbia Neuroscience Seminars, the Zuckerman Institute's Local Circuits Affiliates Program, and other special seminar series through a combined, collaborative effort of one or more of the following: Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, the Center for Precision Psychiatry, the Department of Neuroscience, the Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior and the Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, and with support from the Kavli Institute for Brain Science. 

More information and a full schedule can be found here.