Research Interests:

Dr. Wood's laboratory is studying mechanisms of cholesterol regulation in brain and the role of cholesterol in cell structure and function with an emphasis on cholesterol homeostasis and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Several different lines of evidence point to a potentially important but not well understood association between AD and cholesterol. Epidemiological studies show that patients taking cholesterol lowering drugs (statins) are at a lower risk of developing AD than subjects not taking statins. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is an important carrier of brain cholesterol and individuals with the apoE4 allele are at a greater risk of developing AD compared to individuals with the apoE2 or 3 alleles. There is a growing body of data showing a dynamic interaction between cholesterol and amyloid beta-protein (Abeta), a protein that is thought to be an important contributor to neurodegeneration that occurs with AD. Abeta interacts reciprocally with cholesterol. Cholesterol levels modulate amyloid precursor protein (APP) expression and Abeta production. Conversely, Abeta alters cellular cholesterol dynamics particularly cholesterol trafficking in astrocytes and neurons.

Dr. Wood's group uses several different techniques (e.g., gene expression, proteomics, transgenic animal and cell lines, confocal microscopy) in understanding brain cholesterol. Current research efforts are: 1) examining how the Golgi complex regulates cholesterol trafficking and modulation by Abeta; 2) investigating the structure and function of brain lipid rafts in mice expressing human apolipoproteins 2, 3, and 4; and 3) brain gene expression in mice treated with different cholesterol lowering drugs.