DFG-funded joint project on atlastinopathies launched

Together with Dr. Christoph Kaeter, Leibniz Institute on Ageing - Fritz Lipmann Institute, Jena, and Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ingo Kurth, Institute for Human Genetics and Genomic Medicine, the Institute of Neuropathology (Univ.-Prof. Dr. Joachim Weis) has obtained funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to study pathomechanisms of neurodegeneration in the peripheral nervous system associated with mutations of atlastins. These proteins regulate the shaping of the endoplasmic reticulum. Because atlastinopathies can be regarded as prototypical ER membrane-shaping disorders selectively affecting long axons, our studies are expected to yield insight relevant not only for this particular group of diseases, but also for our understanding of the pathophysiology of degenerative distal axonopathies in general.