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Project

Atomic Force Microscopy Enhanced Spectroscopy to Study Strains and Seeding of Amyloids In Situ

The establishment of the Molecular Biophysics Leuven core facility at the Gasthuisberg campus has made biophysical approaches more accessible to the biomedical research community and has yielded many fruitful collaborations amongst the members of this interest group. In this grant, we are aiming to extend the instrument park of this facility with an atomic force microscope (AFM) coupled with a Raman spectroscope and an epifluorescent microscope. This state-of-the-art instrument will make it possible to study amyloid “strains” (structurally well-defined assemblies of amyloid-forming proteins), that are currently a hot topic in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, tauopathies. Acquiring the requested instrument will allow the KU Leuven research community to study amyloid strains and the pathology they cause in situ in cell- and tissue samples at nanoscale resolution. The application is supported by a consortium including both basic scientists, as well as clinician-scientists (eleven investigators in total), and three user groups, in addition. The broad interest in the AFM/Raman/fluorescent microscope underlines the wide impact expected in terms of scientific output, resulting in high impact publications and in industrial contracts, when the biomedical researcher community will have access to this instrument.
 

Date:1 May 2020 →  Today
Keywords:amyloids, spectroscopy
Disciplines:Medical biophysics