Areas of investigation/research focus
Joint outline with Eva-Maria Mandelkow
Neuronal cytoskeleton and Alzheimer disease
The two groups use complementary approaches to investigate the structure and function of the neuronal cytoskeleton, the neurofibrillary pathology of Alzheimer disease, and to develop therapeutic strategies.
The research includes biophysical methods to investigate protein structures and their aggregation pathways
(e.g. electron microscopy, X-ray scattering, spectroscopic methods), biochemical methods (protein interactions, enzyme activities), cell biological methods (development of cellular models of disease states, analysis of transport and aggregation mechanisms by imaging methods) and animal models of neurodegeneration (e.g. transgenic mouse models of Tau-induced pathology).
Examples are:
- microtubule assembly, interactions with associated proteins (MAPs) and motor proteins
- Tau protein and pathological changes in Alzheimer disease and other "tauopathies"
- Functional studies of protein kinases regulating the tau-microtubule interactions
- Axonal transport mechanisms by motor proteins
- Neuronal cell models of Alzheimer disease
- Animal models of Alzheimer disease (transgenic mice, C. elegans)
- Development of Tau aggregation inhibitors and modulators of Tau toxicity for therapy
"Morris Water Maze" swim test to probe memory
- Mice are trained to find and remember a platform (white circle).
- Short path = good memory (left and right),
- long path = poor memory (middle).
