Mitophagy Signalling in Health and Disease

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The cells of our body are constantly exposed to potentially damaging agents from both external sources, such as the sun's harmful UV rays or pathogenic bacteria, as well as internal sources, including free radicals produced by the cell’s metabolic pathways. A key mechanism that helps us cope with this onslaught is autophagy (which literally means self-eating) whereby damaged and unwanted cellular components, such as mitochondria, are targeted for degradation and recycling. Recent work has indicated that impaired autophagy is linked to many diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s, therefore any drug that could target this process might be advantageous in treating these diseases. The actual mechanisms of autophagy remain elusive and the aim of my lab is to understand how autophagy is regulated and proceeds at the molecular level. We also aim to unravel how the disruption of autophagic pathways can lead to disease and to exploit this information to develop novel therapeutic strategies.