A Role for TIMP2 in Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disease

By Iphia Zhang ’29, OCW

Aging is the greatest risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, but what makes this the case? At the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Castellano Lab has found a gene linking aging to neurodegenerative diseases. The gene, called TIMP2, supports microglia, immune cells in the brain that maintain health of the brain. Loss of TIMP2 in the brains of mice led to physical manifestations of aging in the brain, such as increased inflammation and changes in the effectiveness of cellular waste clearing. In aged mice, these symptoms of aging could be reversed with TIMP2 treatment, suggesting a role for TIMP2 in sustaining brain youth and health through microglia.