Grant: Operating Grant

What happens in the aging and degenerating brain? This is the question that has driven the research of my laboratory since September 2005. The main goal of my research program is to understand the mechanisms involved in the aging of the brain and in such neurodegenerative disorders as Alzheimer's disease. We focus mainly on the cytoskeleton, the internal building blocks of neurons in the brain. Composed of thread-like structures made of protein, the neuronal cytoskeleton serves three different purposes: it provides structure for the cell, as well as transports materials and sends signals to other parts of the cell. Dysfunctions in the neuronal cytoskeleton can lead to such neurodegenerative disorders as Alzheimer's disease, Frontal Temporal Dementia, Parkinson's disease, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. One unique feature of neurons is their capacity to communicate with each other by electrochemical activity. However, when neurons are hyperactivated (hyper-depolarized), they can't talk to each other and instead, undergo demise associated with collapse of the cytoskeleton. The present grant aims to understand how the cytoskeleton behaves and copes with an excess of neuronal activity. Ultimately, my laboratory is looking for ways to protect nerve cells from the damage that results from alterations in the cytoskeleton.