Early Protein Drivers of Alzheimer’s Disease

This project aims to identify and characterize brain protein changes that drive pathology development in Alzheimer’s disease, to reveal new mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages.

This study will explore the pathological role of ten proteins that we believe to promote the development of neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We will study the location of each of these proteins in the brains of people with AD, will determine if they interact with other major proteins that make up the plaques and the tangles in AD, and will determine if these proteins cause cell death. Together, these results will help determine if our proteins of interest are potential new drug targets or biomarkers for AD.

This project focuses on identifying protein changes that occur before Alzheimer’s disease pathology starts to accumulate, rather than studying disease after it is already established. Our combination of human brain tissue analysis with functional studies in cell models will allow us to directly test how these early changes drive pathology. Together, this approach bridges discovery and mechanism, helping to identify new targets for very early intervention.

Once complete, this study could help identify the earliest biological changes that trigger Alzheimer’s disease. In doing so, it may uncover new drug targets or very early biomarkers of disease. More broadly, our findings could advance understanding of how Alzheimer’s begins, which could help shape future studies aiming to develop next-generation therapies.