Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta 2 articles published in JoVE Genetics An In Vitro Approach to Study Mitochondrial Dysfunction: A Cybrid Model Andrea Cavaliere*1, Silvia Marchet*1, Ivano Di Meo1, Valeria Tiranti1 1Unit of Medical Genetics and Neurogenetics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta Transmitochondrial cybrids are hybrid cells obtained by fusing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-depleted cells (rho0 cells) with cytoplasts (enucleated cells) derived from patients affected by mitochondrial disorders. They allow the determination of the nuclear or mitochondrial origin of the disease, evaluation of biochemical activity, and confirmation of the pathogenetic role of mtDNA-related variants. Behavior The 4 Mountains Test: A Short Test of Spatial Memory with High Sensitivity for the Diagnosis of Pre-dementia Alzheimer's Disease Dennis Chan1, Laura Marie Gallaher2, Kuven Moodley2, Ludovico Minati3, Neil Burgess4, Tom Hartley5 1Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, 2Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, 3U.O. Direzione Scientifica, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 4Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 5Department of Psychology, University of York This article describes the 4 Mountains Test (4MT), a hippocampus-dependent test of working allocentric spatial memory. The hippocampus is affected early in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and this article outlines the 4MT methodology and results of patient testing, which demonstrates the value of the 4MT in the diagnosis of pre-dementia AD.
