Protein misfolding diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, are characterised by the aberrant aggregation of proteins. These conditions are still largely untreatable, despite having a major impact on our healthcare systems and societies. To address this problem, I will describe drug discovery strategies to target protein misfolding and aggregation. More specifically, I will compare thermodynamic approaches based on the stabilization of the native states of proteins with kinetic approaches based on the slowing down of the aggregation process. This comparison will be carried out in terms of the current knowledge on the process of protein misfolding and aggregation, the mechanisms of disease and the therapeutic targets.
08/03/2024 Prof. Michele Vendruscolo: Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry University of Cambridge, UK