The research group of Prof. Dr. Erich Wanker
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Prof. Dr. Erich Wanker
The research group of Prof. E. Wanker uses an approach that combines functional genomics and proteomics with bioinformatics in order to efficiently predict alterations in the molecular networks of neurodegenerative disease processes. Several lines of clinical, genetic and biochemical evidence indicate that similar molecular pathways, e.g. the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) or chaperone networks, are affected in different neurodegenerative disorders. This suggests that similar molecular programs are altered in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), illnesses whose molecular mechanisms are still largely unclear.
To create an accurate picture of the pathways and functional modules perturbed in neurodegenerative disease processes, we systematically generate high quality protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks for protein misfolding diseases utilising a comprehensive set of complementary proteomics technologies. These networks are then perturbed with RNAi and/or small molecules. Cell-based assays are used to explore functional and dynamic changes in protein complexes. The networks are integrated with phenotype and expression data with the ultimate aim of creating detailed connectivity maps of neurodegenerative diseases. Bioinformatic analysis of these phenotype-interactome-drug connectivity maps should allow the prediction of disease proteins, of pathways critical for neurodegeneration, and of potential drug targets and their susceptibility to drug effects.
We have established a platform of cutting-edge, high throughput proteomics technologies including automated yeast two-hybrid and protein array technology to systematically create human protein-protein interaction networks. In addition, cell-based assays and in vivo model systems for neurodegenerative disease such as HD and AD have been developed. We have also set up a pipeline for high-throughput identification and validation of small molecules that modulate protein misfolding and aggregation in neurodegenerative disease processes.