Why do cells gorge themselves (Understanding the molecular mechanisms of chaperone mediated autophagy).

The fundamental cell processes that govern life begin to fail as we age resulting in diseases associated with old age such as cancer and neurodegeneration. One process that regulates cellular homeostasis is autophagy where cells 'eat themselves' to recycle nutrients and clear away unwanted proteins. This PhD project is specifically looking at a type of autophagy called chaperone mediated autophagy (CMA). The physiological function of CMA is to maintain energy homeostasis and protein quality control with CMA being important in neurodegeneration, cancer and aging. The project will take an inter-disciplinary approach where the molecular mechanisms of CMA will be investigated in the Pryor lab, who researches lysosomes, using mammalian cell culture and cell biology techniques (western blotting, molecular biology, confocal imaging, protein-protein interactions) and whole organism biology in the Sweeney lab, a Drosophila neurobiologist, using fruit flies to identify further the molecular components of CMA and the role of CMA in ageing.