Gal Bitan, Ph.D.

Dr. Bitan’s laboratory focuses on developing new therapeutic and diagnostic tools for diseases related to protein misfolding and aggregation, particularly Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The laboratory synthesizes novel molecules and explores their potential for diagnostic and therapeutic uses. These efforts are guided by structural knowledge that is obtained though multifaceted, collaborative experimental and theoretical studies. The techniques and methodologies used in the laboratory are interdisciplinary in nature, ranging from peptide chemistry, through biochemistry and biophysics, to molecular, cell, and animal biology.

Dr. Bitan received both his B.S. and Ph.D. from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Funded Research

These projects were made possible from Cure Alzheimer's Fund support.

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.

Attar, A., & Bitan, G. Disrupting self-assembly and toxicity of amyloidogenic protein oligomers by “molecular tweezers” — from the test tube to animal models, Current Pharmaceutical Design, May 1, 2014, Read More

Ferreira, N., Pereira-Henriques, A., Attar, A., Klärner, F. G., Schrader, T., Bitan, G., Gales, L., Saraiva, M. J., & Almeida, M. R. Molecular tweezers targeting transthyretin amyloidosis, Neurotherapeutics, April 1, 2014, Read More

Attar, A., Liu, T., Chan, W. T., Hayes, J., Nejad, M., Lei, K., & Bitan, G. A shortened Barnes Maze Protocol reveals memory deficits at 4-months of age in the triple-transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, PLoS One, November 13, 2013, Read More

Attar, A., Rahimi, F., & Bitan, G. Modulators of amyloid protein aggregation and toxicity: EGCG and CLR01, Translational Neuroscience, December 20, 2013, Read More

Despres, C., Di, J., Cantrelle, F. X., Li, Z., Huvent, I., Chambraud, B., Zhao, J., Chen, J., Chen, S., Lippens, G., Zhang, F., Linhardt, R., Wang, C., Klärner, F. G., Schrader, T., Landrieu, I., Bitan, G., & Smet-Nocca, C. Major Differences between the Self-Assembly and Seeding Behavior of Heparin-Induced and in vitro Phosphorylated Tau and their Modulation by Potential Inhibitors, ACS Chemical Biology, May 2, 2019, Read More

Li, H., Rahimi, F., & Bitan, G. Modulation of amyloid beta-protein (A beta) assembly by homologous C-terminal fragments strategy for inhibiting Amyloid beta toxicity, ACS Chemical Neuroscience, July 5, 2016, Read More

Di, J., Siddique, I., Li, Z., Malki, G., Hornung, S., Dutta, S., Hurst, I., Ishaaya, E., Wang, A., Tu, S., Boghos, A., Ericsson, I., Klärner, F. G., Schrader, T., & Bitan, G. The molecular tweezer CLR01 improves behavioral deficits and reduces tau pathology in P301S-tau transgenic mice, Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, January 4, 2021, Read More

Connors, C. R., Rosenman, D. J., Lopes, D. H., Mittal, S., Bitan, G., Sorci, M., Belfort, G., Garcia, A., & Wang, C. Tranilast binds to A beta monomers and promotes A beta fibrillation, Biochemistry, May 31, 2013, Read More

Attar, A., Chan, W. T., Klärner, F. G., Schrader, T., & Bitan, G. Safety and pharmacological characterization of the molecular tweezer CLR01- a broad spectrum inhibitor of amyloid protein’s toxicity, BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology, April 16, 2014, Read More

Attar, A., Ripoli, C., Riccardi, E., Maiti, P., Li Puma, D. D., Liu, T., Hayes, J., Jones, M. R., Lichti-Kaiser, K., Yang, F., Gale, G. D., Tseng, C. H., Tan, M., Xie, C. W., Straudinger, J. L., Klärner, F. G., Schrader, T., Frautschy, S. A., Grassi, C., & Bitan, G. Protection of primary neurons and mouse brain from Alzheimer’s pathology by molecular tweezers, Brain, November 24, 2012, Read More

Schrader, T., Bitan, G., & Klärner, F. G. Molecular tweezers for lysine and arginine — powerful inhibitors of pathologic protein aggregation, Chemical Communications, August 22, 2016, Read More

Liu, T., & Bitan, G. Modulating Self-Assembly of Amyloidogenic Proteins as a Therapeutic Approach for Neurodegenerative Diseases: strategies and mechanisms, ChemMedChem, February 9, 2012, Read More

Linares, G. R., Ivanova, M. I., Ichida, J., Weil, T., Münch, J., Sanchez-Garcia, E., Klärner, F. G., Schrader, T., & Bitan, G. Molecular Tweezers: Supramolecular Hosts with Broad-Spectrum Biological Applications, Pharmacological Reviews, December 22, 2022, Read More