Current Project
PROJECTS
In December 2018, I joined the Department of Quantitative BioMedicine (DQBM) at the University of Zurich (UZH). Here, I am working with Pr. Magdalini Polymenidou on developing a new mouse model to decipher cellular mechanisms of TDP-43 associated pathologies [Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD)]. In 2021 we published a study describing the seeding properties of TDP-43 using cellular models. I am now focusing on investigating the physiological regulation and roles of phosphorylated TDP-43 (pTDP-43) and how post-translational modifications can trigger the transition from physiology to pathology.
Ongoing Project
Deciphering the physiological regulation and roles for pTDP-43
Hyperphoshorylated TDP-43 is considered as a pathological marker for FTLD, LATE and ALS. However, nothing is really known about the role of pTDP-43 in physiology and how it is regulated. Part of the problem could be the detection threshold, as pTDP-43 is expressed at low level in physiological conditions. For my project, I am using super resolution microscopy, dSTORM imaging, in order to detect low level of pTDP-43 under different state of synaptic activity.
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Aim1: How synaptic affects pTDP-43 level and localization in neurons. Different phosphorylation sites are explored.
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Aim 2: How synaptic activity affects subnuclear localization of TDP-43 and pTDP-43.