Simone Engelender, M.D., Ph.D.

Research

We study the molecular mechanisms involved in Parkinson’s disease. We investigate how proteins involved in the disease, in special _-synuclein and synphilin-1 isoforms, form Lewy body-like inclusions. We also investigate how their ubiquitylation contributes to the formation of inclusions. We propose that ubiquitylation of synphilin-1 and _-synuclein represents a primary event for the formation of Lewy bodies and to pathogenesis of the disease.