Holger Wille, PhD

The general focus of the research in my laboratory is the structure of amyloids and other disease-related, misfolded proteins. In particular, we are interested in the infectious prion protein (PrPSc) and the structure-function relationship underlying its infectious nature. In recent years, mounting evidence has implicated prion-like mechanisms in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Lou Gehrig’s disease, to name just a few. The mechanistic similarities that connect these diseases and the archetypical prion diseases are promising research areas for future investigations. In my laboratory, the scope of our experimental approaches is centered on electron microscopy, supplemented by other biochemical and biophysical methods, and molecular modeling. Many of our experiments are carried out as interdisciplinary collaborations with other scientists from the University of Alberta and from other universities and research institutions nationally and internationally.