Deciphering the cellular defences against aggregating proteins in human disease. Cells have inbuilt defences for coping with proteins that bend into abnormal sticky shapes that form toxic clusters. In many diseases, including Huntington's, the clusters severely damage nerve cells. This project will identify the genes and mechanisms cells use to protect themselves from toxic clusters, which could provide new therapeutic targets.
Imaging the action of antimicrobial peptides in living cells. The purpose of this project to use a special magnifying glass to watch molecules invading and killing cells. The outcome will be to identify the mechanism of cell killing to help in the future design of better antibiotics.