Objective Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia which seriously interferes with the daily life of millions of people. People suffering from Alzheimer’s disease show the accumulation of two misfolded proteins in the nerve cells of their brains – amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Although many aspects of the Alzheimer’s disease pattern are well-established, only little is known about the onset, development and progression of this disease. Thus, early detection, including diagnosis before symptoms become visible, is still not possible yet. Furthermore, the development of drugs designed to slow down or even prevent Alzheimer’s disease progression is very difficult and tedious.In the envisaged project, a microorganism, the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger, will be used to study the onset and development of Alzheimer’s disease. The presence of misfolded proteins in this microorganism provokes a cellular reaction that shows many parallels to what is known from nerve cells. It seems that both man and fungus use similar defense strategies to detect and get rid of dangerous misfolded proteins. This makes A. niger very appealing for use as a model system to explore in utmost detail the origin and temporal progression of Alzheimer’s disease. As it is a fast-growing and easy genetically tractable organism, respective analyses can be performed very cost and time effective, something which is not feasible when working with human cell models. Fields of science medical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologydementiaalzheimernatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologymycology Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG - Marie-Curie Action: "Career Integration Grants" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG) Coordinator TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT BERLIN Address Strasse des 17 juni 135 10623 Berlin Germany See on map Region Berlin Berlin Berlin Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Simone Ludwig (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window EU contribution No data
