威斯康星州麦迪逊威斯康星大学韦斯曼中心获NIH五年期拨款研究唐氏综合征突触发育：聚焦CBLN2基因，种子基金试点数据在先
威斯康星州麦迪逊市消息—威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校韦斯曼中心（Waisman Center）11月3日发布，该中心研究员、神经科学副教授安德烈·索萨（André Sousa）博士获得美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）一笔五年期、数百万美元的拨款，用于研究唐氏综合征中的突触发育。
据该中心发布，唐氏综合征源于第21号染色体三体，患者常有突触数量与结构的不足；突触是神经元之间传递信号的连接。索萨长期研究的基因 CBLN2 对突触的发育与功能至关重要；他发现该基因在唐氏综合征中的表达下调，其实验室据此展开了进一步研究。本次拨款使团队得以深入研究唐氏综合征中的突触缺陷机制及 CBLN2 在突触功能与发育中的作用。索萨表示，团队旨在理解这些缺陷背后的分子机制。
该中心称，索萨此前从「安·杜威唐氏综合征催化基金」获得试点拨款生成初步数据，这批数据是其申请本次 NIH 拨款的基础；该催化基金由杜威家族设立，专门支持唐氏综合征早期研究，索萨是首批受资助者之一。项目还将汇集韦斯曼中心多位研究者协作，包括细胞与再生生物学副教授安妮塔·巴塔查里亚（Anita Bhattacharyya）博士与医学遗传学及神经学教授、韦斯曼中心主任蒋强（Qiang Chang）博士。韦斯曼中心位于麦迪逊高地大道1500号。
Waisman Center at UW–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin Receives a Five-Year NIH Grant to Study Synapse Development in Down Syndrome: Focus on the CBLN2 Gene, Built
MADISON, Wisconsin — The Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison announced on November 3 that Waisman investigator André Sousa, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience, has received a five-year, multimillion-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate synapse development in Down syndrome.
According to the center, Down syndrome is a genetic condition resulting from a triplicated 21st chromosome, and people with the condition often have deficits in synapse number and structure; synapses are the connections between neurons that allow communication between cells. Sousa has been investigating the gene CBLN2, which is crucial to synapse development and function, and found that the expression of CBLN2 is downregulated in Down syndrome. The new grant allows the team to dig deeper into synaptic deficiencies in Down syndrome and the role of CBLN2 in synapse function and development. Sousa said the team is trying to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of these deficiencies.
The center states that Sousa previously received a pilot grant from the Ann Dewey Down Syndrome Catalyst Fund, a fund established by the Dewey family to support early-stage research in Down syndrome, and that the data generated with that support made the NIH application possible; Sousa was one of the fund's first recipients. The project will bring together expertise from across the Waisman Center, including collaborations with Waisman investigators Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD, associate professor of cell and regenerative biology, and Qiang Chang, PhD, professor of medical genetics and neurology and Waisman Center director. The Waisman Center is at 1500 Highland Avenue in Madison.
来源链接：威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校韦斯曼中心发布（waisman.wisc.edu）： https://www.waisman.wisc.edu/2026/11/03/ann-dewey-catalyst-fund-helps-launch-major-nih-grant-to-advance-down-syndrome-research/
—-
来源：威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校韦斯曼中心
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：神经科学实验室研究（示意）。（Wikimedia Commons／CC BY 4.0）|Neuroscience laboratory research (illustrative). (Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0)
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
