The Role of Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins in Microglial Docosahexaenoic Acid Uptake and Immunometabolism

Inflammation in the brain, termed neuroinflammation, occurs very commonly in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Neuroinflammation is bad as it can result in cell death in the brain, which leads to the further deterioration of the patient’s health. This project looked into ways to reduce neuroinflammation by targeting a specific protein, fatty acid-binding protein, in a highly specialised cell type in the brain, called microglia. Multiple novel roles of microglial fatty acid-binding proteins were discovered. These findings most likely helped in identifying a new therapeutic target in the brain that can reduce neuroinflammation.