Neurocure researcher at the FMP receives prestigious award from the European Research Council

Andrew Plested will be given funding for his research on glutamate receptors, coming to almost two million euros over a period of five years. These receptors are essential for our brain to function and play roles in diseases such as epilepsy as well as cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders. The research group led by Andrew Plested is interested in the dynamic structure of the fastest receptor in the world, the AMPA receptor. Plested and his colleagues are in particular studying receptor composition and activity, and how these factors set the speed and accuracy of synaptic transmission in the brain, both in health and disease. The Plested lab investigates the opening and closing of individual receptor molecules with the finest of recording methods, so-called single channel measurements. This approach is combined with X-ray structural analyses and computer modelling to build a movie of the super-fast activation of the receptor.

Andrew Plested was recruited in 2008 by the FMP and the Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure from the National Institute of Health (NIH), USA

Source: FMP press release