About Monica

Age remains the main risk factor to develop dementia, however type 2 diabetes (T2D) is also a major contributor to suffer dementia. Our group focusses on the underlying mechanisms that relate Alzheimer´s disease (AD) and metabolic alterations, including prediabetes or T2D. We also study antidiabetic drugs, as a feasible way to slow down or reduce central complications associated to T2D. To do so, we have developed a mixed murine model that reproduces T2D and AD and we use multiphoton in vivo imaging to analyze morphological and functional markers of brain damage when both pathologies are set together.

List of Heat-Net collaborative publications with at least 1 member of the consortium (from other Heat-Net group) from the last 5 years.

  • Antidiabetic Polypill Improves Central Pathology and Cognitive Impairment in a Mixed Model of Alzheimer’s Disease and Type 2 Diabetes.
    Infante-Garcia C, Ramos-Rodriguez JJ, Hierro-Bujalance C, Ortegon E, Pickett E, Jackson R, Hernandez-Pacho F, Spires-Jones T, Garcia-Alloza M.
    Mol Neurobiol. 2018 Jul;55(7):6130-6144. doi: 10.1007/s12035-017-0825-7. Epub 2017 Dec 9.
    PMID: 29224179
    PubMed

  • Progressive Neuronal Pathology and Synaptic Loss Induced by Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease.
    Ramos-Rodriguez JJ, Spires-Jones T, Pooler AM, Lechuga-Sancho AM, Bacskai BJ, Garcia-Alloza M.
    Mol Neurobiol. 2017 Jul;54(5):3428-3438. doi: 10.1007/s12035-016-9921-3. Epub 2016 May 14.
    PMID: 27177549
    PubMed

  • Human tau increases amyloid β plaque size but not amyloid β-mediated synapse loss in a novel mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
    Jackson RJ, Rudinskiy N, Herrmann AG, Croft S, Kim JM, Petrova V, Ramos-Rodriguez JJ, Pitstick R, Wegmann S, Garcia-Alloza M, Carlson GA, Hyman BT, Spires-Jones TL.
    Eur J Neurosci. 2016 Dec;44(12):3056-3066. doi: 10.1111/ejn.13442. Epub 2016 Nov 12.
    PubMed

  • Differential central pathology and cognitive impairment in pre-diabetic and diabetic mice.
    Ramos-Rodriguez JJ, Ortiz O, Jimenez-Palomares M, Kay KR, Berrocoso E, Murillo-Carretero MI, Perdomo G, Spires-Jones T, Cozar-Castellano I, Lechuga-Sancho AM, Garcia-Alloza M.
    Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013 Nov;38(11):2462-75. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.05.010. Epub 2013 Jun 21.
    PMID: 23790682
    PubMed

  • Rapid β-amyloid deposition and cognitive impairment after cholinergic denervation in APP/PS1 mice.
    Ramos-Rodriguez JJ, Pacheco-Herrero M, Thyssen D, Murillo-Carretero MI, Berrocoso E, Spires-Jones TL, Bacskai BJ, Garcia-Alloza M.
    J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2013 Apr;72(4):272-85. doi: 10.1097/NEN.0b013e318288a8dd.
    PubMed

  • Triflusal reduces dense-core plaque load, associated axonal alterations and inflammatory changes, and rescues cognition in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
    Coma M, Serenó L, Da Rocha-Souto B, Scotton TC, España J, Sánchez MB, Rodríguez M, Agulló J, Guardia-Laguarta C, Garcia-Alloza M, Borrelli LA, Clarimón J, Lleó A, Bacskai BJ, Saura CA, Hyman BT, Gómez-Isla T.
    Neurobiol Dis. 2010 Jun;38(3):482-91. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2010.01.019. Epub 2010 Feb 10.
    PubMed

  • Oligomeric amyloid beta associates with postsynaptic densities and correlates with excitatory synapse loss near senile plaques.
    Koffie RM, Meyer-Luehmann M, Hashimoto T, Adams KW, Mielke ML, Garcia-Alloza M, Micheva KD, Smith SJ, Kim ML, Lee VM, Hyman BT, Spires-Jones TL.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Mar 10;106(10):4012-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0811698106. Epub 2009 Feb 19.
    PubMed

  • Rapid appearance and local toxicity of amyloid-beta plaques in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
    Meyer-Luehmann M, Spires-Jones TL, Prada C, Garcia-Alloza M, de Calignon A, Rozkalne A, Koenigsknecht-Talboo J, Holtzman DM, Bacskai BJ, Hyman BT.
    Nature. 2008 Feb 7;451(7179):720-4. doi: 10.1038/nature06616.
    PubMed