The next lecture of the Biochemical Society – UCL Mitochondrial Lecture Series

by Anu Suomalainen-Wartiovaara:

Building and burning: mitochondrial dysfunction remodels anabolic biosynthesis and stemness

Thursday, October 20th  at 16.30 pm  in the AV Hill Lecture theatre.

followed by reception @

PhD Common Room (Starling, Room 249) – to be confirmed

See detailed program here

Mitochondrial dysfunction underlies a plethora of different disorders, ranging from severe children’s brain, heart or muscle disorders and epilepsy syndromes to adult-onset neurodegeneration. The mechanisms underlying the tissue-specificity of energy metabolic disorders has remained poorly understood. We show that different types of energy-metabolic defects elicit a variety of stress responses, which redirect cellular anabolic and signaling pathways. For example, recent evidence indicates that mitochondrial DNA maintenance deficit modifies cytoplasmic dNTP metabolism, methylation and glutathione synthesis, and challenges somatic stem cell maintenance. These mechanisms are discussed in the context of mitochondrial disease models and human patients, as well as the potential of the mechanisms as targets for diagnosis and therapy.