Name of Fellow

    Dr Sonia Gandhi

    Institution

    Funder

    Wellcome Trust

    Contact information of fellow

    Country

    United Kingdom

    Title of project/programme

    The role of alpha-synuclein misfolding in Parkinson's disease.

    Source of funding information

    Wellcome Trust

    Total sum awarded (Euro)

    € 877,661

    Start date of award

    01/10/13

    Total duration of award in years

    5.0

    The project/programme is most relevant to:

    Parkinson's disease & PD-related disorders

    Keywords

    Cognitive impairment | Dementia | Neurodegen | Neurodegen | Parkinson

    Research Abstract

    Aim To determine how oligomerisation of alpha-synuclein induces neuronal toxicity in Parkinsons disease. Objective 1: Molecular characterization of oligomerisation The key intermediate goals: (a) to apply biophysical methods (single molecule TCCD and single molecule FRET) to characterize and isolate the different alpha-synuclein species (monomers,oligomers,fibrils) generated during aggregation of fluophore labeled alpha-synuclein (b) to test the effect of alpha-synuclein mutations a nd alpha-synuclein phosphorylation on aggregation Objective 2: Investigation of pathogenesis of oligomerisation in disease models The key intermediate goals are: (a) to characterize a range of mammalian stem cell derived neuronal models expressing different levels of alpha-synuclein. (b) to test the effect of different alpha-synuclein species on uptake and intracellular aggregation in disease models. (c) to investigate the effect of different alpha-synuclein species on cellular processes in particular mitochondrial function, calcium signaling and cell death. (d) to study how endogenous alpha-synuclein may aggregate in neuronal models using recombinant nanobodies that specifically recognize different alpha-synuclein species. Objective 3: Validating targets for therapy Any compound proven to inhibit formation of the toxic species will be tested in cell models to confirm whether it also abrogates toxicity. This represents the translation from in vitro modelling to rational d isease modifying drug design in Parkinson’s disease.

Types: Fellowships
Member States: United Kingdom
Diseases: Parkinson's disease & PD-related disorders
Years: 2016
Database Categories: N/A
Database Tags: N/A

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