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The Avezov Lab
Investigating the roles of the endoplasmic reticulum in
helping maintain neuronal health and its role in disease
Research
What we study
Healthy brain cells rely on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)—the cell’s central factory for making proteins and managing vital chemical signals like calcium. When the ER's delicate structure breaks down, protein clumps accumulate, driving neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
ER structure & luminal transport
The endoplasmic reticulum is a continuous network of membranous pipes reaching throughout the cell. We study how its morphology shapes an active luminal flow that moves proteins and signalling molecules — and why this matters most for neurons with their long, ER-filled projections.
Learn moreImaging protein aggregation
A hallmark of many neurodegenerative conditions is a build-up of protein aggregates. We watch aggregation as it happens inside living cells — resolving where in the cell it starts and how it spreads — using biosensors that report on specific organelles.
Learn moreMicroscopy tools & analysis
Making previously invisible ER processes measurable takes new instruments and new software. We build genetically-encoded biosensors and open image-analysis tools that quantify ER topology and track single molecules inside organelles.
Learn moreNeuroprotective mechanisms
Cells carry intrinsic machinery that folds, repairs and clears aberrant proteins. We explore that machinery — including ER-resident chaperones such as BiP — as a route to compounds and targets that protect neurons from aggregation-related damage.
Learn moreRead more about our scienceOur study shifts the attention in dementia research from the usual focus on individual components of the cell, to the physical design and how it makes the cell functionally fragile. We discovered that it’s about the shape of the cell’s plumbing system – which when disrupted, prevents cells from recharging fast enough and stops them from firing signals. Harnessing this may present a new therapeutic approach.
Publications
Recent work
News
Latest from the lab
Join us or get in touch
We welcome enquiries from prospective students, postdocs and collaborators interested in ER biology, imaging and neurodegeneration.