Research Grant
[Cite as http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/102170]Researchers: Dr Wei-Ping Gai (Principal investigator)
Brief description Parkinson's disease affects 1% of people aged over 50, and a related disorder, Dementia with Lewy bodies, causes dementia in elderly patients. These diseases are characterised by inclusion bodies (Lewy bodies) in a sub population of nerve cells. Multiple system atrophy, another adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder, is also characterised by inclusion bodies (glial inclusions). Inclusions may interfere with cellular function, contributing to the process of brain degeneration. The inclusion bodies are precipitations of proteins and other cellular chemicals. In the last 10 years, in a search for the underlying cause of these neurodegenerative disorders, there has been an intensive research effort to identify the proteins precipitated in the inclusion bodies. The present project adopts a new strategy and aims to identify the precipitated proteins in the inclusion bodies in brains of people dying with Parkinson's disease, Dementia with Lewy bodies and Multiple system atrophy. We intend to isolate the Lewy bodies and the glial inclusions from fresh brain tissue of patients dying with relevant diseases. Throughout the various steps in the isolation process, the location of the inclusion bodies will be checked with a special antibody to a particular protein (alpha synuclein) which we and others have already discovered to be present in all inclusion bodies. Proteins will then be identified using electrophoresis and amino acid sequencing. With the identification of these proteins, their role in neurodegeneration in these diseases can be examined using multiple biomedical approaches. These proteins will be important candidates for developing novel diagnostic reagents, screening for gene mutations in patients, or as the target of therapeutic intervention in these diseases.
Funding Amount $AUD 389,164.11
Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants
Notes New Investigator Grant
- PURL : http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/102170
- nhmrc : 102170