Berlin Brains - Failed protein origami: How misfolded proteins damage our brain

Nerve diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or Huntington's disease have in common that nerve cells are damaged by deposited, misfolded proteins in the brain. Why is the folding of proteins important, how does it take place and why do misfolded proteins damage cells? Prof. Erich Wanker and Dr. Anne Ast are investigating these questions. Using the example of the hereditary disease Huntington's disease, they show how misfolded protein molecules increasingly clump together and slowly let nerve cells die. And they report new approaches to dissolve the protein clumps in order to alleviate the disease.

Event in German

Prof. Dr. Erich Wanker, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC)

Dr. Anne Ast, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC)

Moderation: Dr. Jochen Müller

Tickets can be bought here.

The 7th "season" of this successful collaboration between Charité and Urania will be presented jointly in 2022 by: Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Collaborative Research Center 1315 (SFB1315),  Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin (BCCN).