Cynthia A. Lemere, Ph.D.

Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Funded Research

Project Description Researchers Funding
The Putative Role of Red Blood Cell CR1 Levels in Amyloid-Beta Clearance and Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis

The immune system uses complement proteins and receptors to “coat and clear” pathogens and proteins from the body. Complement Receptor 1 (CR1/CD35) is found on the surface of red blood cells in humans and helps shuttle cellular debris to the liver for degradation. Recently, specific genetic variations, called polymorphisms, in the CR1gene were found to be associated with an increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

 2015
$150,000
The Putative Role of Red Blood Cell CR1 levels in Amyloid Beta Clearance and Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis

The immune system uses complement proteins and receptors to “coat and clear” pathogens and proteins from the body. Complement Receptor 1 (CR1/CD35) is found on the surface of red blood cells in humans and helps shuttle cellular debris to the liver for degradation. Recently, specific genetic variations, called polymorphisms, in the CR1 gene were found to be associated with an increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

 2012
$100,000

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.
Alexandra J. Mably, Daniel Kanmert, Jessica M. Mc Donald, Wen Liu, Barbara J. Caldarone, Cynthia A. Lemere, Brian O'Nuallain, Kenneth S. Kosik, Dominic M. Walsh, Tau immunization: a cautionary tale?, Neurobiology of Aging, 36(3), March 2015, 1316–1332