Soto Lab

Niemann Pick Type-C disease is a fatal childhood dementia that exhibit substantial neuronal loss, neuroinflammation, cognitive decline and motor impairments.  The most prominent pathological feature of the disease is the intracellular accumulation of cholesterol.      

It has been suggested that disruption of the neurovascular unit/blood brain barrier causes vascular dysfunction that precedes the loss of neurons in common dementias such as Alzheimer's disease and Vascular dementia.  Our laboratory is interested in explore the role of neurovascular dysfunction specifically in NPC dementia.

Neuroinflammation is a typical hallmark shared by neurodegenerative diseases.  However, the role of neuroinflammation in the onset and progression of these neurological disorders is not completely understood.  Determine the role of neuroinflammation in NPC disease progression is one of the aims of our laboratory.