An aging society overcomes protein cancers

The number of dementia patients is increasing at a rate of one every three seconds and is projected to exceed 130 million by 2050. Without the immediate development of effective preventive measures and treatments, this could lead not only to the collapse of the healthcare system but also of society as a whole. Neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia are often referred to as ‘protein cancers’, as the accumulation of protein aggregates in the brain is a major cause. Therefore, detailed research on protein aggregation is essential for understanding these diseases and developing treatments. I aim to contribute to disease prevention by capturing protein aggregation as it occurs, with high spatiotemporal resolution, focusing particularly on the structural and state changes of proteins during the early stages of aggregation. I hope to help humanity overcome these so-called ‘protein cancers’ through my research.

URL

https://seeds.t.kyoto-u.ac.jp/seeds/morimoto (in Japanese)