SUMOylation In Acute And Chronic Disease
Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) is a group of proteins responsible for post translational modifications influencing protein function, localization and stability. Recently, protein Sumoylation has attracted neuroscientists since it is implicated in the altered protein dynamics that are associated with various aspects of neurodegenerative disease, including stroke amd Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Our hypothesis is that SUMOylation confers neuroprotection against stressful stimuli through regulation of important stress signalling pathways. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of SUMOylation in models of acute (ischemia) and chronic brain diseases (AD). At present we are characterising the changes in expression and localisation of SUMO1-2/3 in an in vitro model of ischemia (NMDA application) as well as in a model of AD (oligomers application).
