Research Projects

Normal aging is associated with declines in episodic memory and executive functions. Research suggests that around 20-50% of clinically healthy individuals show significant accumulation of amyloid, one of the hallmark biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease but it has been difficult to establish the functional impact of amyloid burden in healthy older...

Fibrillar deposits of proteins are the hallmark of amyloid diseases, amongst which Alzheimer’s disease stands out as the most widespread neurodegenerative pathology of the brain. Neuronal dysfunction is currently attributed to the interaction of A-beta oligomers with the plasma membrane. Several scenarios have been proposed, but the mechanisms of...

As the use of nanoparticles becomes more prevalent, it is clear that human exposure will inevitably increase. Considering the rapidly ageing European population and the resulting increase in the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases, there is an urgent need to address the risk presented by nanoparticles towards neurodegenerative diseases. It is...

The four-year MICRO-THERAPY is a fully integrated interdisciplinary proposal which will develop a new area of competence in the three partners, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Rennes1 and ManRos Therapeutics. It brings together a powerful set of partners covering fully the three key aspects - microwave engineering, chemistry and...

ProtEprobe takes advantage of the recent cutting edge developments in protein conformation control at the Malliaras group and high sensitive protein sensing using high sensitivity factor triangular silver nanoplates by the fellow. Misfolding of a protein occurs when it becomes trapped in a local potential energy minimum where the conformation...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, manifested by a progressive loss of synaptic connectivity, neuronal death and memory impairment. AD affects 1 out of 10 Europeans aged over 65. There are no effective therapies for AD, in part because there is no proven molecular explanation of the steps leading from initial neuronal...

Enzymes are the most efficient, specific and selective catalysts known up to date. Despite the enzyme advantages, not all synthetic processes present a natural enzyme to catalyze and accelerate the reactions. Hence, the design of new stable enzymes for those processes where no biocatalyst is known represents a major challenge for protein...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias affect over 7 million individuals in Europe. There is, as yet, no treatment to halt or reverse disease progression despite huge investments into research. The accumulation of the amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta), derived from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the brain, is a key factor in the...

The last two decades have witnessed the increasing role of patient, user and civil society organizations (POs and CSOs) in the production of knowledge on diseases and health problems. Rich and detailed studies have shown that this phenomenon entails new forms of activism. It also questions the modes of governance of knowledge, as well as the role...

'We aim develop in-vivo imaging biomarker of multidrug transporter function as a generic tool for the prediction, diagnosis, monitoring and prognosis of major CNS diseases, as well as to provide support and guidance for therapeutic interventions. Multidrug transporters actively transport substrates (including multiple CNS drugs) against...

A persistent challenge in unravelling mechanisms that regulate memory function is how to bridge the gap between inter-molecular dynamics of single proteins, activity of individual synapses and emerging properties of neuronal circuits. The prototype condition of disintegrating neuronal circuits is Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Since the early time of...

Independent living of senior citizens is one of the main challenges linked to the ageing population, due to the impact on: (a) the life of the elderly people, (b) the national health systems, (c) the insurance companies, (d) the relatives and (e) the care-givers. Senior citizens may suffer from a number of diseases, including the decline in...