postdoctoral fellow FONCyT
Director: Gerardo Fidelio
E-Mail: ceciliavasti@gmail.com
Posdoc Topic
Study of oligosaccharides derived from glycoesphingolipids as potential new anti-amyloiddogenic compounds
Physiological and pathological functions of glycans are promoted through their clustering effects as exemplified by a series of gangliosides, sialylated glycosphingolipids, which serve as acceptors for bacterial toxins and viruses. Furthermore, ganglioside GM1 clusters on neuronal cell membranes specifically interact with amyloidogenic proteins, triggering their conformational transitions and leading to neurodegeneration.
We propose to develop new molecules that displays a cluster of the GM1 pentasaccharide to evaluate its ability to interact with amyloid β. Due to the lack of hydrophobic lipid residues, which would stably trap this cohesive protein or give rise to toxic aggregates, these new molecules would allow the characterization of the early encounter stage of protein interactions with the external carbohydrate residues of GM1 ganglioside and could be useful as drugs for Alzehiemer Disease therapy.