Molecular Brain Research
 

The Laboratory of Molecular Brain Research investigates inflammatory mechanisms of neurodegeneration focusing on models of four different diseases, stroke (acute neurodegeneration), spinal cord injury (acute neurodegeneration) Alzheimer's disease (chronic neurodegeneration) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (chronic neurodegenerative diseases). We use several animal models of the diseases and utilize genetically modified mouse strains and cells both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, we prepare primary cultures of certain human cells. The idea is to investigate the role of key enzymes and other proteins that are involved in inflammation, oxidative stress or cell death at the molecular and cellular level and verify their significance in pathogenesis of the animal models of the brain diseases. Eventually, we try to obtain information from the human material of these diseases to understand the clinical relevance of these key enzymes/proteins.