Amsterdam Neuroscience researcher Tim Moors, a senior postdoc researcher at the Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences at Amsterdam UMC, has been awarded a ZonMw Off Road grant. The new cell models and proof-of-concept studies developed within this project represent an important step toward establishing a new research line at the interface of alpha-synuclein’s normal biology and its early deregulation in Parkinson’s disease, with the ultimate goal of identifying new therapeutic candidates that modulate this process.  

n total, twenty talented researchers received an Off Road grant from ZonMw to explore their bold, out-of-the-box ideas in biomedical science and healthcare, including Tim Moors. This grant allows Moors to test an innovative hypothesis about the formation of Lewy Bodies and its relevance in Parkinson’s disease for the upcoming 1,5 years.  

Picture of Tim Moors
I envision that my project will yield scalable cell models for Lewy body formation that will advance the development of urgently needed disease-modifying strategies for Parkinson's disease.
Tim Moors
Postdoctoral researcher

Transforming the rigid perspective on Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease 

Parkinson’s disease is a common neurological disease with currently no cure available. In this disease, brain cells form inclusions (‘Lewy bodies’) containing the protein alpha-synuclein. An influential hypothesis has been that alpha-synuclein forms rigid aggregates that are packaged into Lewy bodies. However, the current models do not recapitulate spontaneous Lewy body formation by cells, hampering the development of effective therapies.  

Moors will therefore explore an alternative hypothesis by examining the relationship between cellular transport and the phase separation of proteins, such as alpha-synuclein, inspired by recent insights into ALS and Huntington’s disease. In this project, he will establish new animal-free cell models to analyze these pathways, for instance using highly advanced microscopy techniques.  

Read more about the ZonMw Off Road funding.

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