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Project

Deciphering Tau structure and oligomerization propensities: Towards innovative therapeutics, prognostics and diagnostics

Due to a longer life expectancy and an increasing ageing population, the number of patients suffering from dementia is predicted to increase to 115-135 million by 2050, with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) representing 50-80% of the cases. However, both disease-modifying therapeutic strategies as well as reliable, sensitive tests for early diagnosis and prognosis are still missing. In the current project, we will address these urgent needs by bringing together complementary expertise of 5 partners and particularly aim to (1) decipher the folding, aggregation propensity and seeding capacity of different tau species occurring in various tauopathies, including AD, (2) generate high-affinity monoclonal antibodies towards different tau isoforms, oligomers and/or posttranslational modifications, and (3) extensively characterize and validate these antibodies using in vitro seeding and aggregation assays, relevant animal models and well-characterized human samples for their final application in diagnostics, prognostics and innovative therapeutic strategies.
Date:1 Jan 2021 →  31 Dec 2023
Keywords:Alzheimer’s disease, Tauopathies, Antibodies, Diagnostics, Therapeutics
Disciplines:Protein diagnostics, Neurosciences not elsewhere classified, Applied immunology, Posttranslational modifications