Regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and function

Our research focuses on mitochondrial biogenesis, in particular the consequences of transcriptional regulation of nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes on mitochondrial function. Our aim is to understand how mitochondrial biogenesis contributes to adaptation under pathological conditions, including neurodegenerative disease, myopathies and cancer. To this aim we apply live cell imaging, molecular biology and bioinformatic approaches on cellular and animal models.

  People

Faculty

  • Gyorgy SZABADKAI - Associate Professor

Lab Members

  • Tiago Andrè FERREIRA HENRIQUES - Post-doctoral fellow
  • Michela MENEGOLLO - Post-doctoral fellow
  • Matteo SUMAN - Post-doctoral fellow

  Five recent publications

  1. The breast cancer oncogene IKKε coordinates mitochondrial function and serine metabolism. Xu R, Jones W, Wilcz-Villega E, Costa AS, Rajeeve V, Bentham RB, Bryson K, Nagano A, Yaman B, Olendo Barasa S, Wang Y, Chelala C, Cutillas P, Szabadkai G, Frezza C, Bianchi K. EMBO Rep. 2020 Sep 3;21(9):e48260. doi: 10.15252/embr.201948260.
  2. CHCHD4 regulates tumour proliferation and EMT-related phenotypes, through respiratory chain-mediated metabolism. Thomas LW, Esposito C, Stephen JM, Costa ASH, Frezza C, Blacker TS, Szabadkai G, Ashcroft M. Cancer Metab. 2019 Jul 16;7:7. doi: 10.1186/s40170-019-0200-4.
  3. Mitochondrial Permeability Transition: A Molecular Lesion with Multiple Drug Targets. Briston T, Selwood DL, Szabadkai G, Duchen MR. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2019 Jan;40(1):50-70. doi: 10.1016/j.tips.2018.11.004.
  4. Inositol trisphosphate receptor-mediated Ca2+ signalling stimulates mitochondrial function and gene expression in core myopathy patients. Suman M, Sharpe JA, Bentham RB, Kotiadis VN, Menegollo M, Pignataro V, Molgó J, Muntoni F, Duchen MR, Pegoraro E, Szabadkai G. Hum Mol Genet. 2018 Jul 1;27(13):2367-2382. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddy149.
  5. NADH Shuttling Couples Cytosolic Reductive Carboxylation of Glutamine with Glycolysis in Cells with Mitochondrial Dysfunction. Gaude E, Schmidt C, Gammage PA, Dugourd A, Blacker T, Chew SP, Saez-Rodriguez J, O'Neill JS, Szabadkai G, Minczuk M, Frezza C. Mol Cell. 2018 Feb 15;69(4):581-593.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2018.01.034.
  6. MCbiclust: a novel algorithm to discover large-scale functionally related gene sets from massive transcriptomics data collections. Bentham RB, Bryson K, Szabadkai G. Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Sep 6;45(15):8712-8730. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkx590.

  Projects

  • AIRC
  • Telethon
  • Ministero della Salute – Ricerca Finalizzata