General purpose
The incidence of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD), is increasing in our aging population. These chronic diseases have a significant impact on the quality of life of patients and their caregivers, but also place an increasing economic burden on our society. Therapeutic strategies that act on the underlying pathogenesis of AD and PD and stop or slow neurodegeneration have yet to be developed. Reliable and sensitive tests for early diagnosis are also lacking. Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that endo-lysosomal transport plays an important role in the etiology of neurodegenerative disorders, such as AD and PD. Balanced endo-lysosomal transport regulation is not only important for the maturation, transport, degradation and recycling of proteins and lipids, but is also essential for the clearance and recycling of misfolded and aggregated proteins and dysfunctional mitochondria. In addition, various data indicate that the spread and propagation of AD and PD in the brain is dependent on exo and endocytosis of oligomeric (pre) fibrils that act as 'ad' for aggregating proteins in neighboring cells.