Anum Khursheed

Profile

Project title: Amyloid-beta lipid membrane interactions and Alzheimer's disease

Summary: Alzheimer's disease has a profound impact on healthy ageing. It is characterized by the accumulation of a small neuro-toxic peptide, amyloid-beta (Aβ) which forms fibrous plaques within the brain. The mechanism by which Aβ is toxic to neuron is not well understood, however its ability to disrupt membrane integrity and cellular homeostasis is believed to be central to Alzheimer's disease pathology. A large tool-kit of biophysical, imaging and spectroscopic techniques including FT-IR, fluorescence, isothermal titration calorimetry and circular dichroism methods will be used to probe lipid membrane interactions. The aim of this project is to image the impact of Aβ (monomers; oligomers and fibrils) on membranes of various lipid compositions, measure Aβ impact on membrane permeability, monitoring the Aβ fiber formation kinetics, study the Aβ insertion in lipid bilayer and consequential changes in Aβ secondary structure in addition to the Ion Channel studies and Single particle Cryo EM of oligomers.

Supervisor

• Dr John Viles

Research