14.02.2023 New project: Alzheimer Forschung Initiative (AFI)

For communication between the nerve cells to work, the cell structure must be healthy. The cell structure consists of a network of different proteins and is called the cytoskeleton. In Alzheimer's disease, there are communication disorders between nerve cells that are not yet fully understood. Prof Dr Marco Rust from the Philipps University of Marburg has already been able to show that the protein cofilin1 regulates the cell structure of nerve cells and therefore plays an important role in communication between nerve cells and is essential for learning and memory. In addition, an impaired interaction between cofilin1 and other proteins has been shown to be associated with Alzheimer's disease. Prof Dr Rust developed the CAIP protein together with his cooperation partner Prof Dr Elena Marcello from the University of Milan. It was shown that CAIP reverses this disturbed protein interaction and even the cognitive deficits in an Alzheimer's mouse model. This project will now investigate the cellular processes in more detail and analyse the benefits of CAIP as a new therapy for Alzheimer's disease.

References

Pelucchi S, Vandermeulen L, Pizzamiglio L, Aksan B, Yan J, Konietzny A, Bonomi E, Borroni B, Padovani A, Rust MB, Di Marino D, Mikhaylova M, Mauceri D, Antonucci F, Edefonti V, Gardoni F, Di Luca M, Marcello E (2020). CAP2 dimerization regulates Cofilin in structural plasticity and Alzheimer's disease. Brain Commun 2(2): fcaa086.

Heinze A, Schuldt C, Khudayberdiev S, van Bommel B, Hacker D, Schulz TG, Stringhi R, Marcello E, Mikhaylova M, Rust MB (2022). Functional interdependence of the actin regulators CAP1 and cofilin1 in control of dendritic spine morphology. Cell Mol Life Sci 79(11):558.