Project description
Infrared nanospectroscopy for a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s (AD), characterised by the aggregation of amyloid-beta peptides into amyloid fibres that accumulate in plaques within the human brain, pose a growing challenge for health care. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the nanoIR4AD project will study key aspects of AD to improve understanding and explore the basis for potential new treatments. It will map the biochemical composition of plaques at high spatial resolution to investigate the role of lipids. The project will also analyse co-aggregates of amyloid-beta and other polypeptides to better understand the link between different dementias and develop new anti-amyloid peptides. Additionally, it will establish isotope-edited nanoscale infrared (IR) imaging using advanced IR nanospectroscopy for amyloid-beta studies.
Objective
Neurodegenerative diseases are a ticking time-bomb for health care systems because they are care-intensive and will soon become much more wide-spread due to increased life expectancy. Their most common form is Alzheimer's disease (AD), in which the amyloid-ß (Aß) peptide aggregates to amyloid fibers that accumulate in plaques in the human brain. We will study unresolved key aspects of AD in order to understand and eventually combat the disease. The objectives are:
1. To map the biochemical composition of plaques with unprecedented spatial resolution in order to understand the role of lipids in plaque organization and development - possibly leading to a biochemistry-based classification of these brain lesions,
2. To characterize co–aggregates of Aß with other amyloidogenic polypeptides, which may link different diseases and improve diagnosis,
3. To improve anti-amyloid peptides for a possible new AD treatment by characterizing and optimizing their interaction with Aß, and
4. To establish isotope-edited nanoscale infrared (IR) imaging as a versatile tool to characterize chemically similar components of mixtures.
We will exploit the advantages of novel approaches in IR spectroscopy to move the field forward in areas that are difficult for more common methods. IR nanospectroscopy with 20 nm spatial resolution will be used throughout and will be combined for the Aß studies with isotope-edition and with Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. The supervisor is a well-know expert in biological IR spectroscopy and has recently established all approaches in his work. I, as the researcher, will be trained in advanced IR spectroscopy as well as in transferable skills, incl. leadership, and in pedagogics. The expertise in IR nanospectroscopy will particularly promote my career because the technique is about to revolutionize chemical imaging and has many applications in basic and applied science. For the same reason, also the EU will benefit from additional experts in this technique.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering fibers
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology neurodegenerative diseases dementia alzheimer
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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10691 Stockholm
Sweden
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