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Western Kentucky University (2012-2015)
BA Biology; BA Chemistry
The E4 allele of APOE is the strongest risk factor for the development of late onset Alzheimer’s disease. While APOE has been tied to the classical pathology of Alzheimer’s (plaques and tangles) it is also closely associated with the Alzheimer’s symptom of cerebral lipid accumulation. My focus is how APOE alters lipid metabolism in the astrocyte. I found that E4 astrocytes accumulate significantly more lipid droplets (LD) than E3 astrocytes, and these LD are smaller in volume. I also found E4 astrocytes oxidize less fatty acid when it is from an exogenous source, while fatty acid oxidation from lipid droplets is greater in E4s than E3s. These data and my ongoing work implicate APOE as a driver of metabolic dyshomeostasis in astrocytes.
National Institute of Health | National Institute on Aging NRSA F30 (F30AG063422)
AHA Predoctoral Fellowship (19PRE34380094)
Fellowship for Excellence in Graduate Research (Office of Biomedical Education, University of Kentucky)
Farmer, B.C.; Kluemper, J.; Johnson, L.A. Apolipoprotein E4 Alters Astrocyte Fatty Acid Metabolism and Lipid Droplet Formation. Cells 2019, 8, 182.
Farmer BC, Johnson LA, Hanson AJ. Effects of apolipoprotein E on nutritional metabolism in dementia. Current Opinion in Lipidology. 2019 Feb. PMID: 30550413
Brandon JA, Farmer BC, Williams HC, Johnson L. APOE and Alzheimer’s Disease: Neuroimaging of metabolic and cerebrovascular dysfunction. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 2018 March 28: 379433
Khundmiri, S.J.;Salyer, S.A.;Farmer, B.;Qipshidze-Kelm, N.;Murray, R.D.;Clark, B.J.;Xie, Z.;Pressley, T.A.;Lederer, E.D. "Structural determinants for the ouabain-stimulated increase in Na-K ATPase activity." Biochimica et biophysica acta 1843, 6 (2014): 1089-102.
Farmer, B. C., Mason, M., Nee, M. J. Concave porosity non-polar beads by a modified microbubble fabrication. Mater. Lett. 98, 105-107 (2013).
- "Structural determinants for the ouabain-stimulated increase in Na-K ATPase activity." Biochimica et biophysica acta 1843, 6 (2014): 1089-102. [PubMed Link] | [ Full text ]