Amyloid and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Laboratory
Proteins have evolved to fold into precise shapes required not only for their biological activities, but also for physical properties like solubility. When correct folding cannot be realized or maintained - due to mutation, stress, or to a breakdown in the cellular machinery - misfolded, aggregated proteins can build up in cells or tissue. There are at least twenty human disease conditions featuring this kind of aberrant protein deposition. A number of these conditions are well-known neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's Disease, Huntington's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease), and prion diseases like mad cow disease, kuru, and Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease. Through our research on Alzheimer's and Huntington's Diseases, we hope to learn more about how these poorly understood protein deposits form and how they disrupt tissue and damage cells on the mechanistic pathways to human disease.
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