Neuroscience: from molecular mechanisms to disease
BIO-480
Week 1 (9 & 13/09) - Introduction/Techniques/Brain Anatomy I
- Lecture 09/09 I: Cell types of the nervous system (File)
- Lecture 09/09 II - How to study the brain (File)
- Video about optogenetics (File)
- Video about the Water Maze (File)
- Recording: Lecture on Cell Types and Techniques (Academic year 2021-22, different teacher) (copy) (URL)
- Lecture 13/09 - Brain Anatomy Part I (File)
- Ultrashort video about brain anatomy (Allen Brain Institute) (URL)
- Video about Cerebellar Ataxia (File)
- Recording: Brain Anatomy Part I (different teacher) (URL)
- Exercises 13/09 (File)
- Solutions Exercises 13/09 (File)
Week 2 (20/09) - Brain Anatomy II
- Lecture 20/09 - Brain Anatomy II (File)
- Exercises Brain Anatomy (File)
- Recording: Brain Anatomy Part II (different teacher) (URL)
- Movie about deep brain stimulation (File)
- Movie about patient HM (File)
- Solutions Brain Anatomy (File)
Week 3 (23 & 27/09) - Neurodevelopment and Neurogenesis
- Recording development and adult neurogenesis 2021 (URL)
- Biol480_Week 3_Neurodevelopment2024 for handouts dev (File)
- Exercises 23.09.24 devo (File)
- Biol480_Week 4_Neurodevelopment2024_neurogenesis for handouts (File)
- Exercises neurogenesis 2024 (File)
- exercises devo solutions 20224 (File)
- Exercises neurogensis solutions (File)
Week 4 (30/09 & 04/10) - Glia and Motor neurons and disease I
- Presentation Glia for handouts (File)
- Exercises glia 2024 (File)
- case study (File)
- exercises glia solutions (File)
- Motor_system_MN_diseases_I (File)
- MN_diseases_II (File)
- recording glia 2021 (URL)
Week 5 (07/10 & 11/10) Motor neurons and disease II & III
- Exercise 2 on C9orf72 ALS_Answers (File)
- Lecture 11 RNA metabolism (URL)
- RNA metabolism (URL)
- In Class Exercise 1 (Folder)
- In class exercise 2 (Folder)
- Lecture 8 - Motor System (URL)
- Lecture 9 Motor Neuron Diseases (URL)
- Lecture 10 ALS general information and clinical presentation (URL)
- Recorded lecture IV - ALS and RNA metabolism (URL)
- Recorded lecture V - ALS and non-cell autonomous disease mechanisms (URL)
- Exercise 1_SMA (File)
- Motoneuron diseases - RNA metabolism (File)
- Motoneuron diseases III (non-cell autonomous mechanisms) (File)
Week 6 (14/10 & 18/10) - Basal ganglia and Parkinson's disease I and II
Basal ganglia
Parkinson's disease: general facts, symptoms, genetics
Symptomatic treatments: dopamine replacement, deep brain stimulation
Alpha-synuclein pathology: characteristics, link to symptoms, propagation
Organelle quality control
- Basal ganglia & Parkinson's disease_Lecture I (File)
- Parkinson's disease_Lecture II (File)
- PD Lecture IIb (modified version) (File)
- PD Lecture 10-2024 III (File)
- In class exercise: PD Biomarkers (Folder)
Week 7 (28/10 & 01/11): Alzheimer's disease I and II
- Exercises October 31 (AD - Johannes Gräff) (File)
- Solutions to Exercises Oct 31 (File)
- Slides 28/10: AD part 1 (File)
- Slides 01/11: AD part 2 (File)
- Lecture 28/10 (recording from a different year) (URL)
- Lecture 01/11 (recording from a different year) (URL)
Week 8 (04/11 & 08/11): Role of protein misfolded in neurodegenerative diseases
I. Global health and economic burden of NDDs (4/11)
II. Main features of the neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) (4/11)
III.
NDDs: the role of misfolded proteins (4/11)
IV. The prion-like hypothesis (4/11)
V. Spreading of pathology in the brain: the gut-brain axis hypothesis (8/11)
VI. Gain-of-Function vs. Loss-of-Function hypotheses (8/11)
- Class material 4/11/24_ Role of protein misfolded in neurodegenerative diseases (Folder)
- Class Materials 8/11: Protein Misfolding & Neurodegenerative Diseases (Folder)
Week 9 (11/11 & 15/11): Biomarkers, therapeutics in PD and aging
Overview of the latest advances in drug design and therapies in PD: from bench to bedside
Lecture III:
Alpha-synuclein in CNS physiology and pathology
Autophagy and mechanisms of organelle quality control
- Class materials 11/11/24: How to model NDDs at the bench toward therapeutics discovery (Folder)
- Lecture 15/11: Aging as a neurodegenerative disorder (File)
Week 10 (18/11 & 22/11): NeuroTherapeutics and Gene Therapy I & II
Gene therapy for neurological diseases and sensory organs
General principles, ex vivo and in vivo gene therapy
Viral vector technologies: AAV vectors, capsid evolution
Application 1: motor system
Application 2: sensory organs (blindness, deafness)
- Exercise on gene therapy design for SOD1 ALS (File)
- Gene Therapy for the CNS_I (File)
- Gene Therapy for the CNS and sensory organs_II (File)
- Review on AAV & Gene Therapy (File)
Week 11 (25/11 & 29/11): Neuroepigenetics
- Lecture 25/11 Neuroepigenetics_1 (File)
- Exercises Epigenetics I (File)
- Solutions Epigenetics I (File)
- Lecture 29/11 Neuroepigenetics 2 (File)
- Exercises Epigenetics II (File)
- Solutions Epigenetics II (File)
Week 12 (02/12 & 06/12): Personalised medicine and translational approaches against neurodegeneration I- visit of PD patients
02/12: Gene therapy for neurological diseases and sensory organs
General principles, ex vivo and in vivo gene therapy
Viral vector technologies: AAV vectors, capsid evolution
Application 1: motor system
Application 2: sensory organs (blindness, deafness)
06/12: Visit PD patients- CNS Therapeutics - Gene Therapy II (File)
- Gene Therapy_Q&A (File)
- 6_12 Meet the patients (Folder)
- Modelling Neurodegenration (File)
Week 13 (09/12 & 13/12): Debate on the drivers of NDD pathogenesis and Clinical trial
09/12: Debate on treatments targeting Amyloid beta
13/12: Clinical trial in PD
- Papers for debate (Folder)
- BIO-480-AD_Therapy (File)
- Debate-Tasks-and-instructions (File)
- Class 13_12_24 (Folder)
Week 14 (16/12 & 20/12): Mock exam and mock exam correction
The mock exam will be discussed via Zoom on December 20 2024, 10:15am.
The zoom link is: epfl.zoom.us/my/johannesgraeff
The presence time of the teachers has changed - it is now:
10.15-10.45: Bernard Schneider (BS)
10.45-11.15: Johannes Gräff (JG)
11.15-11.45: Anne-Laure Mahul-Mellier (ALMM)