THE WALKER NEUROPATHOLOGY LAB

Yerkes Neuroscience Building Rm 2210 • 954 Gatewood Rd • Atlanta, GA 30322

Phone: 404-727-7779 • Email: lary.walker@emory.edu

Lary Walker, PhD

Overview
Text Box: Research in the Walker lab has been driven by our interest in the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. It is now apparent that abnormal protein aggregation plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease as well as most other age-associated neurodegenerative disorders. The proteins that are central to this process are Aβ, which forms senile plaques, and the microtubule-associated protein tau, which forms neurofibrillary tangles. To clarify the formation and pathogenicity of abnormal protein aggregates, the Walker lab is studying the seeding of protein aggregation in transgenic mice by brain extracts from patients with Alzheimer's disease. We are also addressing the question of why humans are uniquely vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease. By comparing the Aβ and tau proteins in humans and nonhuman primates, we hope to identify characteristics that predispose humans to neurodegeneration. In addition, we are interested in the aging cerebral vascular system, including cerebral amyloid angiopathy and the response of the aged brain to stroke. Text Box: Principal Investigator Dr. Lary Walker, PhD Research Professor of Neuroscience Neuroscience Building, Rm 2210 954 Gatewood Road Atlanta, GA 30329 Phone: 404-727-7779 Email: lary.walker@emory.edu Text Box: Techniques and models that we employ in the laboratory include: Immunohistochemistry & Immunofluorescence Quantitative ELISA Kinetic ThioflavinT protein aggregation assays Radioligand binding assays with PIB and other amyloid binding ligands Autoradiography Immunoprecipitation & Western Blotting Protein purification Lentiviral vector gene delivery Stereotaxic animal surgery Transgenic models of neurodegenerative disease Confocal microscopy Electron microscopy Stereology (MBF Biosciences) We also regularly employ the magnetic resonance and PET imaging facilities at the Yerkes Center. By using these methods to clarify the causes and consequences of protein aggregation in vivo, we hope to accelerate the development of disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer's disease and other age-related cerebral proteopathies.