Mechanisms of cargo identification and trafficking in the autophagy pathway Event

BIOSKETCH

My research focuses on understanding the cellular mechanisms and molecular machinery required for subcellular trafficking of membrane associated and cytosolic cargo. In addition, I’m interested in how these processes influence cell signalling, cytoskeletal reorganisation and cell morphogenesis.

I began my scientific career evaluating the role of focal adhesion proteins in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and their influence on cytoskeletal rearrangement during cell migration/invasion. Following on from this, I focused on understanding the role of cell-extracellular matrix interactions and their relationship to therapeutic resistance in ovarian cancer. My more recent work has concentrated on the role of actin motor proteins and associated adaptor proteins in the regulation of different aspects of autophagy, a cellular degradation pathway. More specifically, this work has investigated how autophagy receptor specificity towards distinct cargo is coordinated and what defines their individual cellular function.

Understanding the requirements for receptor as well as cytosolic cargo degradation and their relationship to cellular morphogenesis is vital to understanding a variety of diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration, which stem from defects in various membrane trafficking and cell signalling pathways. My lab here at the University of Southampton in the Centre for Biological Sciences utilises various biochemical and cell biology approaches to dissect these processes to further our understanding of these complex interrelationships.