Support stem cell-based research to tackle cerebral small vessel disease

Cerebral Small Vessel Disease (cSVD) affects the tiny blood vessels in the brain, leading to strokes, memory loss, and dementia.

Because we don’t fully understand how it works, there are no specific treatments available. It’s also hard to detect early, so many patients miss out on early diagnosis and treatment, resulting in high rates of illness and death.

Common conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and aging increase the risk of cSVD, making it tough to pinpoint the exact cause or find markers that show specific brain damage.

However, some rare genetic forms of cSVD give us a clearer model to study and find treatment targets.

Why funding is needed

Currently, an MB-PhD student is studying how brain immune cells contribute to cSVD and identifying targets for anti-inflammatory treatments. These iPSC experiments are expensive, and the PhD studentship has limited funds for lab supplies. We aim to raise £50,000 to support this PhD project.

Additionally, we need another £50,000 to buy a Microelectrode Array (MEA) system to record neuron activities in real-time. This device is crucial for understanding neural damage from vascular issues and measuring treatment effectiveness.

How researchers are investigating cSVD

Accessing brain cells or tissues for research is challenging, but new technologies let us create patient-specific cells in the lab.

We can turn skin or blood cells into stem cells, known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). By using gene editing, we can introduce specific gene variants into these iPSCs.

We’ve developed methods to guide these stem cells into various brain cell types, including neurons, support cells, immune cells and blood vessel cells. These iPSCs and derived cells are ideal for studying disease mechanisms and testing drugs.

Research suggests that abnormal communication between brain and vessel cells is key to understanding cSVD, but the details are still unclear. To explore this, we’ve grown almost all brain cell types on a microchip, allowing them to form brain-like structures, called Organ-on-a-Chip.

We can also create mini brains from iPSCs, known as brain organoids. These models help us uncover new disease mechanisms and develop treatments without relying on animal models.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please email us at GJBRC@manchester.ac.uk.