{"id":11773,"date":"2025-05-17T10:26:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T08:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/lcsb-en\/?post_type=news&p=11773"},"modified":"2025-05-17T10:26:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T08:26:53","slug":"research-on-healthy-aging-and-neurodegeneration-at-venusberg-conference","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/lcsb-en\/news\/research-on-healthy-aging-and-neurodegeneration-at-venusberg-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"International research on healthy aging, senescence and neurodegeneration at the Venusberg conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n\n\n

From 15 to 17 May, over 250 researchers, clinicians and students from around the world came to Campus Belval for the 2025 edition of the Venusberg Meeting on Neuroinflammation. Originally created by Prof. Michael Heneka in Bonn and hosted by the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) for the second time, this scientific event gathered international experts studying the human brain and its diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMuch more than just neurons<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The theme chosen for the 8th<\/sup> edition of the conference was \u201cCerebral immune activation at the crossroads of healthy aging, senescence and neurodegeneration\u201d and the different sessions highlighted the diverse cell types that constitute the brain. Over 30 talks explored the roles that microglia, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes play in diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. They underlined the complex interplays of all glial cells that are essential to support the neuronal network but are also intricately connected to pathological mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microglia were for example at the heart of talks by Prof. Eric Klann from the Center for Neural Science at New York University and Prof. Lennart Mucke<\/a>, founding director of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, while Prof. Klaus-Armin Nave<\/a> from the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine and Dr Philip Hasel<\/a> from the University of Edinburgh presented their work on oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, respectively.

Some of the presentations, including a plenary talk by Prof. Mikael Simons<\/a> from the University of Munich, focused on myelin, the insulating layer that forms around neurons, and its evolution with age, while other tackled the role of epigenetics, with for example the involvement of non-coding RNAs in Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nTargeting complexes responsible for cells\u2019 unhappiness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The inflammasomes, multiprotein complexes of the innate immune system responsible for the activation of inflammatory responses and cell death, were also extensively discussed  as they drive many diseases. The plenary talk by Prof. Kate Schroder<\/a> from the University of Queensland shed light on the influence of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Her presentation also emphasised how these complexes constitute interesting drug targets and mentioned existing clinical trials.

\u201cThe variety of cell types and molecular structures involved shows the fascinating complexity of the human brain in health and disease,\u201d said Prof. Michael Heneka<\/a>, Director of the LCSB and host of the event. \u201cBringing these different fields together in a single conference is essential to make sense of this puzzle as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nStanding on the shoulders of giants\u2026<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n
\n \n
\n
\n

\n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\n
\n
\n