Autophagy in neurodegeneration

Autophagy serves to catabolize long-lived proteins and remove aged or damaged cellular organelles inside cells. This “intracellular immune function” is still poorly understood but appears to be important in the cells’ response to stress and survival. We are studying the role of autophagy in neurodegeneration and mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease focusing on Beclin 1, a protein involved in the initiation of autophagy.