Proteasome Regulation: From Basic Mechanism to Neuro-protective Therapy

Event Details

Type

Monday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Hermann Steller, Ph.D., Strang Professor and head, Strang Laboratory of Apoptosis and Cancer Biology, The Rockefeller University

Speaker bio(s)

Age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease, pose major unmet health needs since neither cures nor treatments that address the root cause of these diseases currently exist. These diseases are associated with the accumulation of protein aggregates that are thought to impair cell function and eventually lead to neuronal degeneration. All our cells have potent clearance mechanisms to degrade unwanted and potentially dangerous proteins. The PI31 protein mediates fast transport of proteasomes, the nano-machines responsible for regulated protein degradation, between the neuronal cell body and synapses. Inactivation of PI31 impairs local protein degradation at synapses and initiates a cascade of events that eventually cause the formation of protein aggregates and neuronal degeneration. Strikingly, mutations that reduce the activity of PI31 have been found in human patients and cause a very severe, early onset form of Parkinson’s Disease. These patients present a clear path for bringing PI31-based gene therapy to the clinic. If successful, this will make it possible to explore the neuro-protective role of PI31 in more common neurodegenerative diseases and normal brain aging.

Hermann Steller earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the University of Heidelberg. He completed a postdoc in molecular neurobiology at the University of California, Berkeley, and joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987, becoming full professor in 1996. Steller joined The Rockefeller University in 2000, where he is currently the Strang Professor and head of the Strang Laboratory of Apoptosis and Cancer Biology. He has received an International Cell Death Society’s Career Award and a Jonathan Magnes Award from The Hebrew University, among other honors. He has also been named a Pew Biomedical Scholar and a Searle Scholar.

MLS lectures are only open to the RU community and will be taking place in Carson Family Auditorium and virtually via Zoom. Virtual participants are required to log in with their RU Zoom account and use their RU email address and password for authentication. We recommend signing out of VPN prior to logging in to the lecture. Please do not share the link or post on social media.

Open to

Campus Only