Team Jakobsson

This study will seek to determine whether transposable elements are active in tissues from patients with Parkinson’s disease and whether this activity can induce inflammation in the nervous system. We will first look for evidence of transposable element activity using single-cell RNA sequencing of tissues from people with Parkinson’s disease. This particular experiment will also allow us to determine whether patient cells that show more transposable element activity also show increased signs of inflammation. Because cells of the central nervous system (neurons, astrocytes and microglia) can be grown in a laboratory culture system, we can also test whether manipulations that induce transposable element activity in these cells also causes an immune response that would result in inflammation. This would suggest that blocking transposon activity could block inflammation.