Small heat-shock molecular chaperone proteins and amyloid fibrils

该提案涉及与衰老相关疾病（例如阿尔茨海默氏症、帕金森氏症和白内障）相关的蛋白质聚集的基本机制，以及通过一组称为小热休克蛋白的分子伴侣蛋白的作用来预防聚集。随着人口老龄化，这些疾病的流行率将在未来20年大幅增加。因此，了解和治疗这些疾病将对健康产生重大的长期益处。此外，作为许多这些疾病的标志而形成的高度结构化的蛋白质聚集体在新兴的生物纳米技术领域中具有潜在的广泛应用，例如作为纳米线和生物膜。

This proposal addresses the fundamental mechanisms of protein aggregation associated with debilitating age-related diseases, e.g. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cataract, and the prevention of aggregation via the action of a group of molecular chaperone proteins known as small heat-shock proteins. With the ageing population, the prevalence of these diseases will increase significantly over the next 20 years. Understanding and treating these diseases will therefore have significant long-term health benefits. Furthermore, the highly structured protein aggregates that form as hallmarks of many of these diseases have potential wide ranging applications in the emerging field of bionanotechnology, e.g. as nanowires and biofilms.