QBI Neuroscience Seminar: Structural biology of membrane trafficking in neurodegeneration

Event Details

Date:

Wednesday, 29 October 2014 - Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

Auditorium, level 7

UQ Location:

Queensland Brain Institute (St Lucia)

URL:

http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/neuroscience-seminars

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Speaker: Dr Brett Collins
Institute of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland

Title: Structural biology of membrane trafficking in neurodegeneration

Abstract: Eukaryotic cells are highly compartmentalised, and have evolved highly sophisticated protein machineries to control the flow of transmembrane molecules and membrane lipids between organelles. Disruption of these processes are linked to numerous diseases including neurodegenerative disorders, pathogen invasion and cancer. We are determining how these trafficking machineries are assembled and regulated at the molecular level through a combination of structural biology, biophysical, and cell biology approaches. This seminar will describe our most recent work on critical protein sorting machineries – the retromer complex and the sorting nexins - regulating endosomal membrane recycling and cellular homoestasis. The role of retromer and its potential as a target in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s will also be discussed.