Martin L. Duennwald, PhDBACK

Scientist, Boston Biomedical Research Institute

The Systems Biology of Age-Dependent Protein Misfolding

A number of age-related neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's Disease seem to be caused by misfolding of otherwise normal proteins inside brain cells. Proteins to perform their normal function have complex folding patterns like origami, and if normal folding is disrupted not only fail to perform their normal functions but can become toxic. Dr. Duennwald hopes to learn what complex molecular changes occur inside aging cells lead to increased protein misfolding by introducing proteins causing human diseases into aging yeast cells. Yeast cells are among the most powerful tools we have for dissecting the causes of complicated molecular events. In doing so, Dr. Duennwald hopes to discover previously unidentified molecular pathways that affect protein misfolding. His research could thus provide new insight into the basic biology of protein misfolding, which could inform future research and possibly treatment of human neurodegenerative diseases.