Grant: Project Grant

Toxic proteins with abnormal shapes (misfolded) accumulate in the brain as we age and in many neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, inducing cellular stress. Healthy cells have many strategies to clear toxic proteins and prevent their aggregation and accumulation. However, with ageing and in neurodegenerative diseases, such mechanisms become less efficient and overwhelmed, contributing to brain cell death. In this proposal, we will investigate whether the formation of small fat droplets inside the cells may help trapping toxic misfolded proteins and facilitate their clearance, thus protecting cells and slowing down neurodegenerative diseases.