Lynn Bekris Laboratory

Research

Overview

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating progressive neurodegenerative disorder that impacts millions of people worldwide. It is is now regarded as a continuum of pathological changes that are defined by pathological Aβ and Tau accumulation in the brain with a long pre-symptomatic period of 10 to 20 years.

• A decades long continuum of progressive pathological changes offers the unique opportunity to treat the neurodegenerative  disease early before cognitive decline. 

• The problem is that genetic evidence strongly suggests there can be other heterogeneous pathological features, such as inflammation, but a reliable blood-based biomarker of  inflammation in Alzheimer's disease remains elusive.

• A patient may also have a heterogenous mixture of pathologies that include hallmarks of multiple neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, and vascular dementia,  but reliable blood-based biomarkers specific to these pathologies remain elusive.

• The Bekris lab research goal is to identify specific biomarker signatures that tease apart the heterogeneous nature of early pre-symptomatic disease for tracking disease progression, therpeutically targeting the disease and monitoring treatment effectiveness.

• Dr. Bekris is the director of the Cleveland Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (CADRC) Biomarker Core and the co-director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease Biobank (LRCBH-biobank). She is also a co-investigator of the Dementia with Lewy Body Consortium (DLBC).

Selected Publications

View publications for Lynn Bekris, PhD
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1. TREM2 alters the phagocytic, apoptotic and inflammatory response to Aβ42 in HMC3 cells. Akhter R, Shao Y, Formica S, Khrestian M, Bekris LM.Mol Immunol. 2021
2. TNFRSF1B Gene Variants and Related Soluble TNFR2 Levels Impact Resilience in Alzheimer's Disease. Pillai JA, Bebek G, Khrestian M, Bena J, Bergmann CC, Bush WS, Leverenz JB, Bekris LM.Front Aging Neurosci. 2021.
3. An Altered Relationship between Soluble TREM2 and Inflammatory Markers in Young Adults with Down Syndrome: A Preliminary Report. Weber GE, Koenig KA, Khrestian M, Shao Y, Tuason ED, Gramm M, Lal D, Leverenz JB, Bekris LM. J Immunol. 2020.
4. Key inflammatory pathway activations in the MCI stage of Alzheimer's disease. Pillai JA, Maxwell S, Bena J, Bekris LM, Rao SM, Chance M, Lamb BT, Leverenz JB; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2019.
5. Soluble TREM2 and biomarkers of central and peripheral inflammation in neurodegenerative disease. Bekris LM, Khrestian M, Dyne E, Shao Y, Pillai JA, Rao SM, Bemiller SM, Lamb B, Fernandez HH, Leverenz JB. J Neuroimmunol. 2018. 
6. DNA methylation of TOMM40-APOE-APOC2 in Alzheimer's disease. Shao Y, Shaw M, Todd K, Khrestian M, D'Aleo G, Barnard PJ, Zahratka J, Pillai J, Yu CE, Keene CD, Leverenz JB, Bekris LM. J Hum Genet. 2018.
7. Epigenetic signature and enhancer activity of the human APOE gene. Yu CE, Cudaback E, Foraker J, Thomson Z, Leong L, Lutz F, Gill JA, Saxton A, Kraemer B, Navas P, Keene CD, Montine T, Bekris LM. Hum Mol Genet. 2013