Congratulations! Dr. Christelle Hureau received an ERC Starting Grant 2014
(Feb 19, 2015)
It is wonderful to announce that Dr. Christelle Hureau, member of the ECOSTBio action,
has received a Starting Grant 2014 from the European Research Council (ERC).
The ERC Starting Grant 2014 has given for his ALzINK project "Alzheimer's disease and zinc: the missing link?".
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most serious diseases mankind is now facing as its social and economical impacts are increasing rapidly.
This project is based in bio-inorganic chemistry field at interface with spectroscopy and biochemistry.
It aims at designing, synthesizing and studying new drug candidates capable of targeting Cu(II) bound to Aβ within the synaptic cleft,
where Zn is co-localized and ultimately to develop Zn-driven Cu(II) removal from Aβ and disrupting the aberrant Cu(II)-Aβ interactions involved
in Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production and Aβ aggregation, two deleterious events in AD.
The drug candidates will thus have high Cu(II) over Zn selectively to preserve the crucial physiological role of Zn in the neurotransmission process.
Zn is indeed always underestimated in current therapeutic approaches targeting Cu(II) despite the known interference of Zn with Cu(II) binding.
This highly selective competition distinguishes and funds projects of the best European researchers, in order to support, for a period of 5 years,
the next generation of excellent researchers by allowing them to pursue their scientific curiosity and take risks.
More information about ERC Starting Grant 2014 for ALzINK
to Christelle Hureau can be found here.
