PhD defence

During her PhD studies, Dovile Januliene investigated proteins in the brain that are associated with various diseases. These include frontotemporal lobar degeneration, which is one of the most common types of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. The main cause of this dementia is the lack of a certain protein in the brain called progranulin. The levels of progranulin are controlled by its receptor, which is called sortilin.

Dovile Januliene studied the structure of the complex and how the two proteins bind each other. Her findings explain the molecular basis of the interaction between sortilin and progranulin, and provide structural insights for drug design.

The PhD degree was completed at the Centre for Structural Biology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University.

Time: Friday 20 February 2015 at 13.00
Place: Building 3130, room 303, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, 8000 Aarhus C
Title of dissertation: Structural studies of the Vps10p-domain receptors and their complexes
Contact information: Dovile Januliene, dovile@mbg.au.dk, +45 5029 3116
Members of the assessment committee:
Dr Guido Hermey, Centre for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Germany
Professor Jette Sandholm Jensen Kastrup, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen
Associate Professor Ditlev Egeskov Brodersen (chair), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Main supervisor:
Associate Professor Søren Skou Thirup, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Language: The dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.
The dissertation is available for reading at the Graduate School of Science and Technology/GSST, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, room 112, 8000 Aarhus C.