Cell Reports 2026

APOE3 and APOE4 human astrocytes differentially modulate Alzheimer’s disease pathology and microglial responses in chimeric mice

Joan Cruz-Sese, Marta Mirón-Alcala, María Alfonso-Triguero, Jon Olalde, Leire Ruiz, Nuria Galbis-Gramage, Lorea Cortes, Laura Escobar, Pranav Preman, An Snellinx, Takashi Saito, Takaomi C Saido, Laura Saiz-Aúz, Alberto Rábano-Gutiérrez, Ana M Aransay, Ibai Diez, Julia Tcw, Alison Goate, Bart De Strooper, Elena Alberdi, Amaia M Arranz

Astrocytes and APOE are strongly implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the impact of astrocytes carrying different APOE variants on AD hallmarks remains incompletely understood. Here, we generate a chimeric…

Journal of Neuroscience 2025

Astrocytes as Therapeutic Targets in Neurodegenerative Disorders

Isabel H Salas, Maria Alfonso-Triguero, Blanca Díaz Castro, Nimrod Elazar, Carole Escartin, Camilo Faust Akl, Steven A Hill, Francisco J Quintana, Amaia M Arranz

Astrocytes play crucial roles in central nervous system homeostasis, regulating neuronal and synaptic activity, modulating immune responses, and preserving the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. Recent genetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic…

EMBO Molecular Medicine 2024

APOE from astrocytes restores Alzheimer’s Aβ-pathology and DAM-like responses in APOE deficient microglia

Pranav Preman, Daan Moechars, Emre Fertan, Leen Wolfs, Lutgarde Serneels, Disha Shah, Jochen Lamote, Suresh Poovathingal, An Snellinx, Renzo Mancuso, Sriram Balusu, David Klenerman, Amaia M Arranz, Mark Fiers, Bart De Strooper

The major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), APOE4, accelerates beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaque formation, but whether this is caused by APOE expressed in microglia or astrocytes is debated. We…

Aging Cell 2024

Centenarian hippocampus displays high levels of astrocytic metallothioneins

Ander Saenz-Antoñanzas, Maider Muñoz-Culla, Piero Rigo, Leire Ruiz-Barreiro, Manuel Moreno-Valladares, Ainhoa Alberro, Sara Cruces-Salguero, Marta Arroyo-Izaga, Amaia M Arranz, David Otaegui, François Guillemot, Ander Matheu

The hippocampus is a brain area linked to cognition. The mechanisms that maintain cognitive activity in humans are poorly understood. Centenarians display extreme longevity which is generally accompanied by better…

Science Journal 2023

MEG3 activates necroptosis in human neuron xenografts modeling Alzheimer’s disease

Sriram Balusu, Katrien Horré, Nicola Thrupp, Katleen Craessaerts, An Snellinx, Lutgarde Serneels, Dries T'Syen, Iordana Chrysidou, Amaia M Arranz, Annerieke Sierksma, Joel Simrén, Thomas K Karikari, Henrik Zetterberg, Wei-Ting Chen, Dietmar Rudolf Thal, Evgenia Salta, Mark Fiers, Bart De Strooper

Neuronal cell loss is a defining feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We xenografted human or mouse neurons into the brain of a mouse model…

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2022

Evolution of neuroglia

Alexei Verkhratsky, Amaia M Arranz, Katarzyna Ciuba, Aleksandra Pękowska

The evolution of the nervous system progressed through cellular diversification and specialization of functions. Conceptually, the nervous system is composed of electrically excitable neuronal networks connected by chemical synapses and…

Molecular neurodegeneration 2021

Human iPSC-derived astrocytes transplanted into the mouse brain undergo morphological changes in response to amyloid-β plaques

Pranav Preman, Julia Tcw, Sara Calafate, An Snellinx, Maria Alfonso-Triguero, Nikky Corthout, Sebastian Munck, Dietmar Rudolf Thal, Alison M Goate, Bart De Strooper, Amaia M Arranz

Background: Increasing evidence for a direct contribution of astrocytes to neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes causing Alzheimer's disease comes from molecular and functional studies in rodent models. However, these models may…

Nature neuroscience 2019

Stem-cell-derived human microglia transplanted in mouse brain to study human disease

Renzo Mancuso, Johanna Van Den Daele, Nicola Fattorelli, Leen Wolfs, Sriram Balusu, Oliver Burton, Adrian Liston, Annerieke Sierksma, Yannick Fourne, Suresh Poovathingal, Amaia Arranz-Mendiguren, Carlo Sala Frigerio, Christel Claes, Lutgarde Serneels, Tom Theys 6, V Hugh Perry, Catherine Verfaillie, Mark Fiers , Bart De Strooper

Although genetics highlights the role of microglia in Alzheimer's disease, one-third of putative Alzheimer's disease risk genes lack adequate mouse orthologs. Here we successfully engraft human microglia derived from embryonic…

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2018

PARL deficiency in mouse causes Complex III defects, coenzyme Q depletion, and Leigh-like syndrome

Marco Spinazzi, Enrico Radaelli, Katrien Horré, Amaia M Arranz, Natalia V Gounko, Patrizia Agostinis, Teresa Mendes Maia, Francis Impens, Vanessa Alexandra Morais, Guillermo Lopez-Lluch, Lutgarde Serneels, Placido Navas, Bart De Strooper

The mitochondrial intramembrane rhomboid protease PARL has been implicated in diverse functions in vitro, but its physiological role in vivo remains unclear. Here we show that Parl ablation in mouse…

Plos One 2017

Correction: Tetraspanin 6: A novel regulator of hippocampal synaptic transmission and long term plasticity

Isabel H Salas, Zsuzsanna Callaerts-Vegh, Amaia M Arranz, Francesc X Guix, Rudi D'Hooge, José A Esteban, Bart De Strooper, Carlos G Dotti

Tetraspanins (Tspan) are transmembrane proteins with important scaffold and signalling functions. Deletions of Tetraspanin 6 (Tspan6) gene, a member of the tetraspanin family, have been reported in patients with Epilepsy…

Molecular Neurodegeneration 2017

Tetraspanin 6: a pivotal protein of the multiple vesicular body determining exosome release and lysosomal degradation of amyloid precursor protein fragments

Francesc X Guix, Ragna Sannerud, Fedor Berditchevsk, Amaia M Arranz, Katrien Horré, An Snellinx, Amantha Thathiah, Takaomi Saido, Takashi Saito, Sundaresan Rajesh, Michael Overduin, Samir Kumar-Singh, Enrico Radaelli, Nikky Corthout, Julien Colombelli, Sébastien Tosi, Sebastian Munck, Isabel H Salas, Wim Annaert, Bart De Strooper

Background: The mechanisms behind Aβ-peptide accumulation in non-familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain elusive. Proteins of the tetraspanin family modulate Aβ production by interacting to γ-secretase. Methods: We searched for tetraspanins…

Neuron 2017

Hallmarks of Alzheimer’s Disease in Stem-Cell-Derived Human Neurons Transplanted into Mouse Brain

Ira Espuny-Camacho, Amaia M Arranz, Mark Fiers, An Snellinx, Kunie Ando, Sebastian Munck, Jerome Bonnefont, Laurie Lambot, Nikky Corthout, Lorna Omodho, Elke Vanden Eynden, Enrico Radaelli, Ina Tesseur, Selina Wray, Andreas Ebneth, John Hardy, Karelle Leroy, Jean-Pierre Brion, Pierre Vanderhaeghe, Bart De Strooper

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) provide a unique entry to study species-specific aspects of human disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, in vitro culture of neurons deprives them of…

Nature 2017

PLD3 gene and processing of APP

Pietro Fazzari, Katrien Horre, Amaia M. Arranz, Carlo Sala Frigerio, Takashi Saito, Takaomi C. Saido, Bart De Strooper

Cruchaga et al. 1 recently showed that:(1) variants in the phospholipase D3 (PLD3) gene confer increased risk for the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD);(2) PLD3 expression is decreased in patients…

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