 |
|  |  |
 |  |  |  |
 | Departmental Seminar: Dr. Anne Bertolotti |
 |  |  |  |
Event Date: 10.28.2013
Day: Monday
Time: 12:00pm
Location: 700 Fairchild
Event Type: Departmental
|
DR. ANNE BERTOLOTTI
Neurobiology Division
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Cambridge, UK.
Title: Protein Misfolding: Initiation, Propagation and Potential Cure. Implications for Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Abstract
The
deposition of misfolded proteins is a defining feature of many age-dependent
human diseases, including the increasingly prevalent neurodegenerative
diseases. Why aggregation-prone proteins accumulate in aged cells remains largely
unclear. In fact, cells normally strive to ensure that
proteins get correctly folded and indeed all cells have powerful and
sophisticated protein quality control systems that very efficiently handle
potentially harmful proteins for decades. However, the protein quality control
mechanisms seem to gradually fail with age, leading to the accumulation of
misfolded proteins with the resulting catastrophic consequences for cells and
organisms.
I
will discuss our recent progress towards understanding the mechanisms that
govern the deposition of misfolding-prone proteins, how they propagate in a
manner reminiscent of prions and the strategies we have uncovered that reduce
the burden of misfolded proteins in cells.
Host: Dr. Liz Miller |