LIMAD

Mapping microbe-derived amyloids and their interactions with Aβ42 and α-synuclein to illuminate new avenues against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

🧠 Importance of human microbiome in neurodegenerative diseases

LIMAD: Large-scale identification of microorganism products impacting amyloid diseases

PI: Valen
Funding agency: National Science Center Poland
Programme: Miniatura 9
Grant ID: 2025/09/X/NZ7/00600
Start date: 21 Aug 2025
Duration: 12 months
Budget: PLN49,999.00

Protein aggregation and amyloid deposits are hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s (PD). Emerging evidence suggests that microbial proteins can influence the misfolding of human amyloidogenic proteins (notably Aβ42 and α-synuclein), potentially via the gut–brain axis. LIMAD aims to systematically uncover microbial proteins with amyloid potential and evaluate their ability to interact with and promote aggregation of Aβ42 and α-synuclein.

📌 Project highlights

• 🔍 Systematic review of microbes linked to Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s
  
• 🧬 Screening microbial proteins for amyloid potential
  
• 🤖 Using ML & structural biology to test cross-interactions with Aβ42 & α-synuclein
  
• 🧪 Generating new hypotheses for microbial contributions to neurodegeneration
  
• 🎯 Identifying potential drug targets and prevention strategies