Protein disaggregation

We study how Hsp70-family chaperones dissolve protein aggregates, working out the mechanism step by step. Our aim is to harness that machinery and direct it at the pathological aggregates that accumulate in neurodegenerative disease.

02

ER morphology in neuronal health

The ER morphogen RTN4 shapes the tubular network that reaches through every neuronal process. We are testing what that shaping does for neurons, and how it may regulate their capacity to regenerate.

03

Super-resolution single-molecule imaging

Single-particle tracking lets us follow individual molecules as they move inside the ER of a living cell. We use it to read out the interaction between BiP and Hsp70 during disaggregation, and to measure luminal transport as it happens.

04

ER retention therapy

We use AI-guided nanobody design to build novel APOE-targeted therapies for dementia, engineering binders that increase retention of their target on the ER.

05

Expansion microscopy of human brain

Expansion microscopy brings super-resolution detail to clinically archived human brain tissue. We are adapting it to those samples to see what actually changes inside cells in patients with disease.

06

ER stress machinery

Stress responses are not the same in every cell type. Building on our recent finding of a neuron-specific unfolded protein response, we are working out how neurons handle ER stress on their own terms, and how that can be used to protect them.