Specialization
Molecular cell biology of neurodegenerative diseases
Focus of research
The neurodegeneration group studies the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress and proteostasis in neurodegenerative disorders, predominantly Alzheimer’s disease (AD). When a patient is diagnosed with AD, the neurodegenerative process is at an irreversibly advanced stage. For early diagnosis as well as for development of effective treatment or prevention it is pivotal to study early events. Our research is therefore focusing on early factors that drive the pathogenesis in sporadic AD, ultimately to identify a reversible phase in the disease process. Our previous work shows activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in neurons of AD patients and other tauopaties, very early in disease pathology. We aim to further determine the role of the ER stress response in the pathogenesis of AD with the ultimate goal to characterize early events in the disease process that may lead to the identification of new drug targets to prevent or delay AD pathogenesis.