BIOM08 Validating novel therapeutic targets for neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease

Overview

Parkinson’s disease is the fastest growing neurological disorder globally, for which there are currently no effective treatments. Our group is focused on identifying and validating novel therapeutic targets to slow progressive neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s and other brain diseases. Neurodegenerative disease exhibits the presence of Lewy bodies in the cerebral cortex, which are composed of α-synuclein (αSYN) or Amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, as well as hyperphosphorylated tau (P-tau) tangles in various forms of dementia. The exact pathological mechanisms underlying this disease are not well understood; however, there is evidence suggesting the involvement of inflammatory activity. We have recently identified promising new therapeutic targets for Parkinson's disease, which can be targeted by repurposing drugs that are currently approved to treat other diseases. Our study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the repurpose drug using the most relevant preclinical animal and cellular models of neurodegeneration, as well as ex vivo patient studies. The technique you will learn in our group may include, Primary mammalian cell culture of isolated brain cells, Animal models of neurodegenerative disease, Flow cytometry, Gene, and protein expression analyses (qPCR and western blotting), Immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry and Confocal microscopy and advanced imaging.

Research engagement

• Literature Review
• Laboratory Experiments
• Data Collection
• Data Entry
• Drafting or revising conference papers or journal articles

Research activities

Lab work will attend lab meeting and department seminar.

Student will always receive the support and supervision from either primary or secondary supervision.

Outcomes

These studies will provide the foundation for discovery of new treatment targets that are druggable in Parkinson’s disease. They will also provide valuable mechanistic insights and therapeutic evidence to support the clinical translation of these drugs as novel disease-modifying treatments for progressive neurodegeneration.

Skills and experience

Cell culture and laboratory techniques like ELISA, PCR are desirable but not required.

Start date

1 November, 2024

End date

21 February, 2025

Location

Translational Research Institute

Additional information

Also, will get the opportunities to experience human samples collection and storage.

Keywords

• Parkinson's disease
• Neuroinflammation
• Drug repurposing
• immunofluorescent
• preclinical mouse model
• Flow cytometry

Contact

kunal.bhatt@qut.edu.au