Organised for the 10th year, the Espoir en tête action, initiated by the Luxembourg Rotary Clubs, has raised €44,000 in donations for research in Luxembourg on neurodegenerative diseases. Since the implementation of this joint project of Luxembourg Rotarians in 2013, a total of €683,000 has been raised to support 21 different research projects in Luxembourg.
The Espoir en tête action raises donations each year through the organisation of previews and exceptional screenings in the Kinepolis cinemas of Kirchberg and Esch-Belval. In 2024 and, for the first time, the action was able to highlight a Luxembourg film, "Fox and Rabbit Save the Forest" produced by DOGHOUSE FILMS, SUBMARINE and WALKING THE DOG and distributed in Luxembourg by TARANTULA DISTRIBUTION.
Invited on 6 October 2024 by the Luxembourg Rotary Clubs, some 1,850 spectators responded. €8 from each seat sold for €16 was donated to research in Luxembourg on neurodegenerative diseases.
This audience thus made it possible, with the support of other donors, to collect a total of €44,000., an amount that will finance two research projects, each supported with €25,000 and €19,000 respectively; the first project concerning the role of amyloids from the microbiota in triggering protein aggregation linked to neurodegenerative diseases, the second the study of the role of the transfer of mitochondria and lysosomes by tunneling nanotubes in neurodegenerative diseases.
The role of amyloids from the microbiota in triggering protein aggregation linked to neurodegenerative diseases
Knowing whether small proteins derived from the microbiome can seed amyloids linked to neurodegeneration is of paramount importance because it could reveal causal links between specific microorganisms and the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, small amyloids derived from the microbiome have significant potential as new biomarkers for prognosis and disease diagnosis, as well as potential targets or guides for early therapeutic interventions. Before such applications can be developed, detailed molecular verification and mechanistic understanding are needed to determine how and to what extent small microbial proteins trigger the misfolding and aggregation of critical human amyloids.
This project is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the neuroinflammation teams of the Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), the Department of Physics and Material Science of the University of Luxembourg and the Department of Medicine and Genetics of Stanford University in the United States under the direction of Professor Paul Wilmes (Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg). The project duration is estimated at twelve months.
Studying the role of mitochondrial and lysosome transfer by tunneling nanotubes in neurodegenerative diseases
The funding of this project will improve our understanding of the role of TNT formation between neurons and microglia, and in particular the functional transfer of mitochondria and lysosomes via these structures in the context of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Understanding the role of mitochondrial and lysosomal transfer via TNTs will then be exploited to develop diagnostics as well as new therapeutic avenues for these neurodegenerative disorders. Finally, we believe that the results of this project will serve as a catalyst for other grant applications and project proposals on TNTs in the future.
This second project involves the Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedecine (LCSB) and the Laboratoire National de Santé (LNS) under the direction of Professor Michael T. Heneka and Dr. Dimitri Budinger of the LCSB. The project duration is estimated at six to nine months.
