| Research | Team | Collaborations | Publications |
Research
Alzheimer disease (AD), the most frequent neurodegenerative disease in the elderly, is characterized by the presence in the brain of two types of lesions. Intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles contain the microtubule-associated protein Tau, which is hyperphosphorylated. Extracellular senile plaques contain an amyloid deposit of Aβ peptide, which is produced from the amyloid precursor protein APP. The APP juxta-/transmembrane domain is able to homo-dimerize and hetero-dimerize with other membrane proteins. Our group is investigating how these molecular interactions can affect processing of APP. The function of APP remains largely unknown. By over expressing APP or down regulating endogenous APP expression, we are investigating the neuronal function of the protein both in vitro and in vivo. Another important issue is to understand the pathophysiological role of protein Tau and to identify Tau-directed therapeutic targets. We are using in vitro to in vivo models in a versatile way for identification and characterization of novel modifiers of Tau.
The current projects 
are:
- APP Structure, Dimerization and processing
- Function of the amyloid precursor protein
- Identification of TAU modifiers and signaling pathways linking APP and TAU.
Team
Principal Investigators
- Jean-Noël OCTAVE, PhD, Responsable du Groupe de Recherche
- Pascal KIENLEN-CAMPARD, PhD
- Ilse DEWACHTER, PhD
Postdoctorate fellows
- Nathalie PIERROT, PhD
- Serena STANGA, PhD
- Nicenza VICECONTE, PhD
PhD students
- Rémi OPSOMER, PhD Student
- Sabrina CONTINO, PhD Student
- Céline VRANCX, PhD Student
Technical and administrative staff
- Bernadette TASIAUX, Technician
- Floriane RIBEIRO, Technician
- Romelia DE JESUS CARVAJAL USUGA, Technician
- Cathy Friand, Administrative Assistant
Collaborations
National collaborations
- Stefan N. Constantinescu, LICR, UCL, Belgium
International collaborations
- Steven O. Smith, Stony Brook University, USA
- Jean-Philippe Loeffler, Frédérique René, INSERM U1118, University of Strasbourg, France
- Anne-Laurence Boutillier, UMR CNRS 7364 and University of Strasbourg, France
- Nicolas Sergeant, INSERM U815, University of Lille 2, France
- Helena Karlström, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
- Rheinard Zeidler, LMU, Germany