Laboratory for Neuropathology

Laboratory of Neuropathology

The laboratory of Neuropathology focusses on the investigation of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. By getting novel insights into the pathogenesis of these diseases we hope to find novel therapeutic targets.

We study the pathology of the diseases morphologically and biochemically in autopsy brains from diseased individuals as well as from control cases and make use of experimental model systems such as mouse models and cell culture systems to find functional correlates for the morphological and biochemical findings. We focus, thereby, on the morphological distribution and biochemical aggregation status of amyloid β-protein, τ, TDP43 and dipeptide repeats derived from carriers of the C9ORF72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion. Moreover, we are involved in clinico-pathological studies to validate PET-tracer substances for targeting neurodegenerative disorders.

Projects:

1. The role of protein aggregate maturation in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders and its potential for disease monitoring and differential diagnosis (funded by FWO)

2. Intracellular dynamics of disease-associated proteins in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Cooperation project with L. Van den Bosch, P. Van Damme (both Laboratory of Neurobiology (Experimental Neurology)) and T. Vercruysse (Rega Institute) (funded by KU-Leuven C1)

3. Vlaams initiatief voor Netwerken voor Dementie Onderzoek. WP2 Distributed dementia biobank for translational research. (as partner of R. Vandenberghe (Experimental Neurology)) (funded by Vlaamse Overheid)