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| Ulf Dettmer, PhD | Nagendran Ramalingam, PhD |
Ulf Dettmer, PhD, and Nagendran Ramalingam, PhD, both of the Department of Neurology, received a five-year, $2.2 million award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) for their project “How Serine-129 Phosphorylation Status Affects the Spreading of α-Synuclein Pathology in vivo: A Study in Knock-In Animals.”
With this support, the team will use preclinical models to explore how chemical changes of the Parkinson’s-related protein α-synuclein affect pathology. These changes involve the addition of phosphate groups to serine, an amino acid, at specific locations in the protein — a process known as phosphorylation. The new RF1 award complements the NIH RF1 ($2 million) the group received in July 2022 to understand how this phosphorylation affects the structure and function of α-synuclein.
The researchers will also explore new strategies for the treatment of diseases characterized by the pathophysiology of α-synuclein. These include Parkinson’s disease and Dementia with Lewy bodies, in which abnormal clumps of α-synuclein accumulate in the brain.
NINDS is the nation’s leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
