Description:

The department of Physiology welcomes Amy Reeve, Ph.D.

Abstract

Mitochondrial dysfunction is believed to be a key player in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease, through its contribution to the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. However, defects within this organelle are also detected in the same neurons, in normal ageing and mitochondrial diseases. However, mitochondrial dysfunction not always associated with significant neurodegeneration in these cases. Thus, we are interested in understanding how neurons respond to accumulating mitochondrial dysfunction, and whether such adaptive capabilities may be lost in Parkinson’s. In this seminar, I will discuss our work using post mortem brain tissue, as we aim to determine what differs between the response of dopaminergic neurons to mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s compared to the mitochondrial diseases. I will also present new data from imaging mass cytometry, with which we can understand the intricate relationships between mitochondrial protein expression in single neurons.