Dr Nagy discusses recent publication
RESEARCH THEMES
Neurodegeneration, preclinical drug screening, biomarkers and risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
The role of cell cycle activation in neurodegenerative diseases
The main emphasis of her work over the last 15 years has been on the role of cell cycle reactivation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related disorders. This work ranged from the examination of cell cycle related gene expression in neurones of AD patients and controls to functional analysis of mutations of cell cycle regulatory genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease. She was the first to put forward the unified hypothesis for the role of cell cycle related phenomena in neurodegenerative disorders in 1998 and carried on further refining aspects of this working hypothesis.
Her studies on cell cycle related pathways and genes associated with AD led to the development of a functional blood based biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease and the identification of novel genetic risk factors.
The identification of the cell cycle as a primary target for therapy was quickly followed by identification and preclinical screening of potentially disease-modifying drugs.
Dr Zsuzsanna Nagy discusses her recent publication: