Prizes And Awards
Starting Point for Alzheimer's Therapies Earns Award:
Dr Eva-Maria and Eckhard Mandelkow, scientists at the Max Planck Research Unit for Structural Molecular Biology at DESY in Hamburg and at the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), were awarded the Potamkin Prize of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) for their contributions in the field of dementia research. Eva-Maria and Eckhard Mandelkow share the prize endowed with 100,000 US dollar with Dennis Dickson (Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida). With their work on so-called tau proteins, Eva-Maria and Eckhard Mandelkow and their team significantly contributed towards progress in researching the Alzheimer's disease. In their normal state, tau proteins stabilise the cytoskeleton in neurons and are involved in the transport of cell organelles. This protein changes characteristics at a very early stage of Alzheimer's, detaches from the cytoskeleton and self-assemble to form neurofibrillary tangles. Eva-Maria and Eckhard Mandelkow revealed which mechanism causes the tau proteins to form neurofibrillary tangles in the brain and which parts of the protein determine its self-aggregation. These insights into tangle formation then enabled them to investigate more closely the consequences of tau protein aggregation in neurons both in cell and mouse models. This research provides an important starting point for potential therapies. The Potamkin Prize is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the field of dementia research. This scientific award is funded by the New York-based Potamkin family of entrepreneurs and their foundation since 1988.
