Dr. Marc Baggelaar
Proteins do not exist as single, uniform species but as diverse proteoforms, shaped by modifications like phosphorylation, lipidation, glycosylation, and alternative splicing. These modifications directly influence processes including protein function, localization, aggregation, toxicity, and clearance, providing a more mechanistically informative description of pathological processes than protein abundance alone.
Within iCNS, my research focuses on the study of the proteome and how posttranslational modifications (with a particular focus on protein lipidation) on these proteins are (dys)regulated in neuropsychiatric disorders. We employ advanced mass spectrometry-based proteomics and bioinformatic strategies to map the proteome at the proteoform level in complex samples such as brain tissue. This may ultimately lead to a better understanding of the molecular underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disorders and to potential therapeutic strategies by correcting dysregulated protein modifications.