School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Speaker: Professor David Vaux, Professor of Cell Biology, the University of Oxford
Talk Title: The biology of amyloids: from biophysics to pathology and back

Date: 24 May 2024 (Friday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Dr Masayo Kotaka

Biography

Professor David Vaux is a Professor of Cell Biology, Tutorial Fellow in Medicine, Nuffield Research Fellow in Pathology, and Deputy Head (Education) of the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. He has a longstanding programme studying the molecular details of early stage amyloid assembly, and pathological aggregation more generally, including the catalytic role of hydrophobic-hydrophilic interfaces, liquid-liquid phase separation and hydrogen bond networks. He also has an interest in the regulatory roles of the nuclear envelope under physiological and, especially, pathological conditions associated with premature aging syndromes as well as the normal aging process.  Finally, he has a project examining the modification of proteins by the breast cancer-associated tumour suppressor BRCA1, and the implications for cancer cell motility and metastasis.

Abstract

Stable ‘dry steric zipper’ crossed-beta strand fibrillar peptide polymers are hallmarks of chronic accumulation processes associated with a range of clinically important degenerative pathologies.  Extensive efforts have been made to understand the triggers and assembly processes underlying these slowly cumulative events.  We and others have shown that a hydrophobic-hydrophilic interface is a critical catalyst for the early stages of assembly; more recently a role for liquid-liquid phase separation has also been recognised.  Today I will discuss this background in the context of normal physiology, using the role of an amyloidogenic peptide that is co-processed and secreted along with insulin from pancreatic beta cells in response to elevations of glucose concentration as my example.

ALL ARE WELCOME
Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss Crystal Chan at 3917 6830.