“This project is about creating tiny custom-built proteins that can stick to specific parts of brain cells involved in learning and memory. These parts, called neuroreceptors (TrkB and p75NTR), help brain cells grow and connect with each other—something that’s really important for how we think, remember, and learn,” Vili explains.

Thanks to a Lundbeck Foundation Postdoc Grant, he will use the next three years to better understand how brain cells communicate by building smart molecular tools—or tiny proteins.
To make these tiny proteins—also called “binders”—Vili will use artificial intelligence. The AI helps design binders that can recognize and attach to the exact spots on the neuroreceptors the team wants to study.

“First, we will test whether the binders actually stick to the receptors in the lab. Once that works, we will try them out in real brain cells to see how the cells react—how they grow, change shape, or behave,” Vili explains.

These binders are made in a way that allows them to be used in living systems, so in future studies, they could even be tested in animals to see how they affect memory and learning.

New findings in the function of memory in animals can eventually lead to new treatments for memory-related diseases like Alzheimer's in patients.

• See all the recipients of the LF Postdoc Grant