{"id":369,"date":"2019-01-16T18:56:15","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T18:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/?page_id=369"},"modified":"2019-01-16T18:56:42","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T18:56:42","slug":"studying-the-role-of-protein-aggregates-in-alzheimers-disease","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/fall-2018\/studying-the-role-of-protein-aggregates-in-alzheimers-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Studying the Role of Protein Aggregates in Alzheimer\u2019s Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/forward-thinking\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/01\/022015_3640_CSAM-SHIP-Program.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/forward-thinking\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/01\/022015_3640_CSAM-SHIP-Program.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"Professor Ashuwin Vaidya\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Professor Ashuwin Vaidya is conducting small-scale mathematical modeling in collaborative research.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">While protein molecules frequently clump together to form various aggregates, one such aggregation produces amyloid clumps, which scientists believe play a role in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Vaidya, a Mathematical Sciences professor, has received a National Science Foundation grant of $111,404 to support his work on \u201cDynamics of surfactant-amyloid-beta protein interactions during self-assembly,\u201d a three-year collaborative research project.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying first to understand the fundamental mechanics of how aggregates and aggregate pathways happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><cite>Ashuwin Vaidya<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\">Vaidya\u2019s team seeks to understand how biological surfactant molecules modulate amyloid protein aggregation to form specific aggregate species, including the protein amyloid-beta, which is closely associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease. \u201cBeta-amyloid plaques \u2014 a consequence of aggregation \u2014 are seen in the brains of Alzheimer\u2019s patients,\u201d Vaidya notes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI\u2019m doing the small-scale mathematical modeling, while my colleague at Virginia Commonwealth University is doing larger scale computational modeling and my biochemist collaborator at the University of Southern Mississippi will conduct experiments on the proteins behind all this,\u201d says Vaidya. \u201cOur work feeds into each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This interdisciplinary, synergistic approach unites experimental biophysics, simulation and mathematical analyses to meet two project aims. \u201cWe\u2019re trying first to understand the fundamental mechanics of how aggregates and aggregate pathways happen,\u201d says Vaidya, whose funding includes support for a graduate student assistant. \u201cThen we want to see how a system can shift from one pathway to another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Ultimately, this fuller understanding of aggregation pathways within a more complex network of reactions involving amyloids could lead to the development of effective intervention strategies \u2014 not only for patients suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s disease but also for those with other neurological disorders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professor Ashuwin Vaidya is conducting small-scale mathematical modeling in collaborative research. While protein molecules frequently clump together to form various aggregates, one such aggregation produces amyloid clumps, which scientists believe play a role in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer\u2019s. Vaidya, a Mathematical Sciences professor, has received a National Science Foundation grant of $111,404 to support [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11,"parent":356,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-369","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":371,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369\/revisions\/371"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/forward-thinking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}