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Abstract

The last two decades have witnessed tremendous advances in understanding the biology of Alzheimer disease. Yet, no cure is available. Recent research has pinpointed gamma-secretase, one of the two enzymes responsible for beta-amyloid production, as the primary target to focus on. It has been shown that modulation of gamma-secretase is possible, and it is in theory possible to find the right modulator that will lead to the right cure. The key to success to do so is to clearly establish the right structure of the gamma-secretase within the membrane. In the present presentation, we wish to establish that determining with no ambiguity, the right conformation of gammasecretase within the neuronal membrane is the key to developing the right cure. To do so, the use of Xe-NMR technique should prove a valuable tool. This technique, as will be explained in detail, should not only establish the correct gamma-secretase structure per se, but should also show where the structurally various modulators get anchored. Consequently, the exact location, nature and number of allosteric sites can be deduced from such experiments.

Biography

Chewki Ziani-Cherif has completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the age of 24 years from Strasbourg University, France and postdoctoral studies from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Laval University in Quebec. He then joined the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Florida in the neuroscience field where he was introduced to Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases. He spent over five years doing research in the same location as full time researcher, while teaching at the University of North-Florida. He has published more than 16 papers, a first fiction-novel that appeared in 2011 entitled Presidential conspiracy, and a second actually in press called A Journey into the Secret World of Money.