Henrik Müller
Filed in: Past Postdoc
Research interests
Fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and prion diseases (e.g. mad cow disease) share a common cause. Cellular proteins that, under normal circumstances have a functional role in the body, distort and form long amyloid fibrils, which are non-crystalline and heterogeneous, and can even be infectious. Henrik is interested in understanding (i) the structural details of how benign proteins are converted into causative agents of deadly diseases and (ii) the molecular mechanism by which the human defensive system, in the form of chaperoning small heat shock proteins, inhibits the formation of those protein fibrils.
Fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and prion diseases (e.g. mad cow disease) share a common cause. Cellular proteins that, under normal circumstances have a functional role in the body, distort and form long amyloid fibrils, which are non-crystalline and heterogeneous, and can even be infectious. Henrik is interested in understanding (i) the structural details of how benign proteins are converted into causative agents of deadly diseases and (ii) the molecular mechanism by which the human defensive system, in the form of chaperoning small heat shock proteins, inhibits the formation of those protein fibrils.
His work involves an inter-disciplinary combination of biophysical techniques such as electron microscopy (EM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, differential ultracentrifugation, ion-mobility mass spectrometry (IMS), and chromatographic techniques with cell and animal-based toxicity assays and cutting edge high-molecular weight solution-state and solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
University and college roles and committees
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Chemistry
Junior Research Fellow at Pembroke College
MPLS representative of the Oxford Research Staff Society (OxRSS)
Publications
CONTACT INFORMATION:
henrik.muller AT chem.ox.ac.uk