Our lab's new publication on Neurobiology of Aging by Ms. Yalin Zhu and Dr. Guoyu Lan.

Posted onApr 02,2026

Congratulations! Our lab member Ph.D. student Yalin Zhu and Dr. Guoyu Lan published their new work "Association of plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein and APOE-ε4 with Alzheimer’s Disease" in Neurobiology of Aging. More information please refer to https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197458026000473.

Yalin paper(1).jpg

Abstract:

Both Apolipoprotein E-ε4 (APOE-ε4) and astrocytic activation, as measured by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), play critical roles in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the influence of astrocytic activation on the relationship between APOE-ε4 and AD pathologies remains unclear. This study investigates the interrelationships among astrocytic activation, APOE-ε4, and AD pathophysiology in 529 participants who underwent plasma biomarker measurements, APOE genotyping, and cognitive testing. Additionally, 277, 284, and 104 underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), amyloid-β (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET), and tau PET, respectively. The associations of plasma GFAP, APOE-ε4, and AD-related biomarkers, as well as whether plasma GFAP mediates APOE-ε4-related effects on AD, were investigated. Higher plasma GFAP and APOE-ε4 were independently associated with more severe Aβ and tau aggregation, as well as cognitive decline. Mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect of APOE-ε4 on plasma p-tau biomarkers (21.1%-24.9%), Aβ PET (16.4%), and cognition (19.6%), while the indirect effect on tau PET was trend-level (29.1%, pFDR = 0.051). These findings highlight the central role of astrocytic activation in AD pathogenesis and underscore plasma GFAP as a promising biomarker for risk stratification and therapeutic targeting.

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