GEORGE BLOOM
Professor of Biology and Cell Biology
- Email: gsb4g@virginia.edu
- Office: (434) 243-3543
- Lab: (434) 243-3544
- Office: 216 PLSB
EDUCATION
- B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1973
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1979
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Research in our laboratory is now focused primarily on Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The histopathological hallmark of AD is the presence in brain of extracellular plaques of ß-amyloid peptide fibrils, and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles, which are filaments composed of the protein, tau. Despite the conspicuous appearance of plaques and tangles, a growing body of evidence points to their building blocks, ß-amyloid and tau oligomers, as being the toxic molecular species that cause AD. For example, we have found that tau expression is required for several adverse effects of ß-amyloid oligomers on neurons, including microtubules loss, ectopic re-rentry into the cell cycle and cytotoxicity. The goals of our work are to decipher the metabolic links that connect ß-amyloid and tau to damage neurons, to define the structures and pathological properties of various types of ß-amyloid and tau oligomers, and to develop effective therapeutic and diagnostic tools for AD.
For more information about research interests, visit my lab website.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS