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Cambridge Institute for Medical Research

 

Unravelling the molecular pathology of axon death

General audience summary: Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a subtype of motor neuron disease in which affected people develop progressive leg paralysis because some of the longest neuronal connections (‘axons’) degenerate. HSPs are caused by mutations in specific genes, most commonly in the gene that codes for the spastin protein. Our aim is to understand how spastin and other HSP proteins normally work and how this goes wrong in HSPs. We are currently focusing on a role of a number of HSP proteins in regulating the trafficking and transport systems in human neurons and how this affects functioning of specific subcellular organelles. This detailed understanding should inform rational treatment approaches for hereditary spastic paraplegias and perhaps other similar neurological conditions. We are also interested in how axonal regrowth can be achieved by manipulating intracellular organelles.

Strategic CIMR themes: Rare Genetic Diseases, Neurological Diseases, Membrane Trafficking, Organelle Biology

Funding: Medical Research Council, Tom Wahlig Stiftung, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

Research Group members: Sam Cheers, Isabelle Hall, Rowan John, Aishwarya Nadadhur, Bart Nieuwenhuis

Professor of Neurogenetics and Molecular Neurobiology
Honorary Consultant, Medical Genetics

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Takes PhD students
Available for consultancy

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St Edmund's College