Publications Database

Aquaporin 4 (AQP4), a water channel expressed in astrocytic end feet forming the blood brain barrier, is predominantly expressed in the central nervous system. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) AQP4 has now been suggested as a possible fluid biomarker in Alzheimer's disease. [...]

Deep learning has demonstrated significant potential in medical imaging; however, the opacity of “black-box” models hinders clinical trust, while segmentation tasks typically necessitate laborious, hard-to-obtain pixel-wise annotations. To address these challenges simultaneously, this paper introduces a framework for three inherently explainable classifiers (GP-UNet, GP-ShuffleUNet, and GP-ReconResNet). [...]

The risk for dementia is to a significant extent driven by potentially modifiable factors. Prevention strategies are increasingly aiming at individually tailored risk reduction approaches, particularly in light of emerging Brain Health Services for dementia prevention (dBHS).The cross-sectional observational study 'Individual Risk Profiling for Alzheimer's and Dementia Prevention' (INSPIRATION) assessed the individual risk factors of 162 participants of the local Cologne Alzheimer Prevention Registry and provided individual feedback on risk profiles during a single visit. [...]

Alu elements are evolutionarily very old primate-specific interspersed repeat elements that constitute ∼11% of the human genome. They are a source of short tandem repeats (STRs), which often expand in size and cause inherited neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders. [...]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as key regulators of brain function, but their contribution to microglial aging and neurodegenerative disease remains largely unknown. Because only 1.5% of the human genome encodes proteins, whereas the vast majority of transcripts belong to the largely unexplored non-coding RNAome, elucidating the functions of non-coding RNAs provides an unprecedented opportunity to expand the space for therapeutic discovery. [...]

The collective dynamics of subcellular biological processes is often difficult to assess experimentally due to the challenges associated with spatial and temporal resolution, labeling, or multiple scattering. X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy is, in principle, well suited to probe collective dynamics by quantifying dispersion relations in complex fluids in general and biomolecular systems in particular. [...]

Patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are vulnerable to psychological distress, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Impaired sleep is a hallmark of PTSD, and may also act as a risk factor that maintains or exacerbates PTSD, yet this relationship has not been examined in ICD recipients across different ages. [...]

Model systems that mimic human cardiac structure and function are essential for the development of novel diagnostics and effective treatments for cardiovascular diseases. While non-human vertebrate models, from zebrafish to pig, remain vital to cardiovascular research, the translatability of findings to human patients is often limited. [...]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease, leading to an inexorable decline in voluntary muscle function, and finally to death within 2–4 years. The provision of professional ALS care is a multifaceted and continually evolving challenge, including the management of symptoms, advanced care planning, and the provision of psychosocial support. [...]

Cognitive reserve has been shown to modulate the onset and progression of Alzheimer disease (AD) symptoms. Although its role in sporadic AD is well-studied, how cognitive reserve influences the timing and progression of symptoms in dominantly inherited AD (DIAD) remains unclear. [...]