RE: BioRDF [Telcon]

> Re integrating our AD use case with a PD use case, I could imagine
> one where a PD researcher is investigating whether an immunization
> approach could work for PD. There are some strong parallels between
> AD and PD (and indeed, there is significant co-morbidity and
> overlapping pathology). PD is characterized by aggregates of alpha-
> synuclein, and some researchers have reported that there are soluble
> oligomers of alpha-synuclein that may be toxic. The brain regions
> that express alpha-synuclein are different than those that express
> Abeta (I believe the Mouse BIRN has some gorgeous images of GFP-
> tagged alpha-synuclein), there are some interesting mouse models for
> investigating the interaction between alpha-syn and Abeta, and there
> may well be some preclinical studies under way to try alpha-syn
> immunization. If so, I'm sure those folks are carefully watching what
> is going on in AD.

[VK] I find the possibility that semantic web technologies can enable the
discovery and validation of a scientific hypothesis, e.g.,  the interaction
between alpha-syn and Abeta and the potential relationship between AD and PD
very intriguing and exciting!

---Vipul

Received on Thursday, 14 December 2006 01:23:00 UTC