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Project

Investigating the role of tau aggregates in neurodegeneration

The PhD project investigates the role of tau aggregates in neurodegeneration and is part of a wider project that focusses on the discovery of novel monoclonal antibodies that can neutralize tau toxicity and spreading. Tau is the main component of the neurofibrillary tangles that are a hallmark of AD along with Alzheimer beta plaques, and a paradigm of intracellular aggregation. In the etiology of AD, the Abeta aggregation and the abnormal phosphorylation and aggregation of tau aggregation increase in parallel, but the loss of neurons is mainly associated with tau aggregation. In addition, tau aggregation is also associated with more than 20 other, very heterologous pathologies, called tauopathies, including Pick’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. Tauopathies are differentiated by aggregation of distinct Tau isoforms in pathognomonic brain regions and the absence of significant amounts of Aβ plaques. In this project, recombinant production of tau aggregates as well as their isolation directly from the brains of animal models and human donors allows to study the seeding capacity of tau aggregates in vitro, in cells and in animal models. These assays and well as human brain tissue sections will be used to test novel antibodies and other components that may reduce the spreading and toxicity of tau aggregates.

Date:15 Feb 2021 →  Today
Keywords:Protein aggregation, Atomic force microscopy-based infrared spectroscopy
Disciplines:Molecular biophysics, Posttranslational modifications, Structural biology, Neurological and neuromuscular diseases
Project type:PhD project