- Vacancy Reference Number
- UoS_SIPBS_SC
- Closing Date
- 30 May 2018
- Salary
- This studentship (available to UK or EU students) will cover full tuition fees and provide a tax free stipend for 3 years (in line with standard stipend levels).
- Address
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences
University of Strathclyde,
161 Cathedral Street,
Glasgow G4 0RE
Scotland, UK.
- Duration
- 3 years
Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating condition that develops due to extensive neuronal damage leading to aberrant neural network activity. A common factor in Alzheimer’s and many other neurodegenerative diseases is the dysfunction of mitochondria. These energy-producing metabolic hubs also influence signalling cascades, ROS production and redox control. Mitochondria are trafficked along the cytoskeleton, vital for long-lived neurons. Delivery and maintenance of functional mitochondria to energy-consuming synapses is critical for correct neuronal function and protection against cell death.
Mitochondria efficiently buffer calcium, maintaining appropriate physiological calcium signals and protecting from pathological calcium overload. Fascinatingly, mitochondrial transport proteins disengage in high calcium, delivering the organelles where most needed. Mitochondria are also susceptible to damage which can cause a cascade of spreading calcium overload that disrupts ATP production, increases ROS and induces apoptosis.
This project builds on exciting new findings that show that mitochondrial transport is disrupted by exposure to either the Alzheimer’s-associated amyloid, or diabetic-like hyperglycaemia. The project will therefore examine whether the combination of a high-glucose and high-amyloid environment may exacerbate mitochondrial alterations and lead to disrupted neuronal function. We will investigate how each hyperglycaemia, amyloid and their combination affects neuronal function; as well as the potential that pharmacological or endogenous mitochondrially-targeted agents could protect again neuronal dysfunction.
Objectives:
1. investigate whether exposure of primary neuronal cultures to amyloid plus hyperglycaemia (glucose oscillations) additively affect mitochondrial motility
2. quantify the effect of aberrant mitochondrial motility on neuronal function, particularly synaptic activity
3. examine whether neuroprotection is afforded by modulation of mitochondria
Further Information
Primary Supervisor: Susan Chalmers
Email: s.chalmers@strath.ac.uk
Webpage: https://pure.strath.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/susan-chalmers(af1293b0-70db-4e51-99d6-077c5c215acf).html
Secondary Supervisor: Trevor Bushell
Email: trevor.bushell@strath.ac.uk
Webpage: https://pure.strath.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/trevor-bushell(7c0ff536-fd36-4025-b0fa-8010b621da83).html
References:
1. Rui & Zheng. Amyloid ? oligomers elicit mitochondrial transport defects and fragmentation in a time-dependent and pathway-specific manner (2016) Mol. Brain 9, 79. doi: 10.1186/s13041-016-0261-z
2. Pekkurnaz G et al. Glucose regulates mitochondrial motility via Milton modification by O-GlcNAc transferase (2014) Cell 158, 54 doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.06.007
3. Baek SH et al. Inhibition of Drp1 Ameliorates Synaptic Depression, A? Deposition, and Cognitive Impairment in an Alzheimer's Disease Model (2017) J Neurosci. 37, 5099. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2385-16.2017
4. Chalmers et al. Flicker-assisted localization microscopy reveals altered mitochondrial architecture in hypertension (2015) Sci. Rep. 5, 16875; doi: 10.1038/srep16875
Contact Details
Primary Supervisor: Susan Chalmers
Email: s.chalmers@strath.ac.uk
Phone: 0141 548 2909
Address: Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences
University of Strathclyde,
161 Cathedral Street,
Glasgow G4 0RE