When
Presenter:
Dr. Jim Hurley, Professor
Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley
Autophagy refers to the uptake of cellular material in a double membrane vesicle for lysosomal degradation. Autophagy is conserved in eukaryotes as a mechanism for surviving starvation and clearing harmful materials, including damaged mitochondria. Defects in mitochondrial clearance by autophagy, known as mitophagy, are implicated in Parkinson's disease. Autophagy is initiated by the ULK1 protein kinase complex and the class III PI 3-kinase complex I (PI3KC3-C1). The structure and activation of the ULK1-PI3KC3-C1 supercomplex will be described. The nutrient status of the cell is continuously monitored at the cytosolic surface of lysosomes. I will describe, step by step, the structural gymnastics whereby the Ragulator, Rag GTPase dimer, FLCN-FNIP, SLC38A9, and mTORC1 complexes and the transcription factor TFEB sense amino acid levels and control lysosome biogenesis. I will then go on to describe how signals originating from growth factors and nutrients are integrated on the lysosome membrane.
Bio:
James ("Jim") Hurley is a professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He was born in Moscow (the city in Idaho, USA, not Russia), graduated in Physics from San Francisco State University, and obtained his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of California, San Francisco. He was a senior investigator in the intramural program of the National Institutes of Health from 1992-2013, and joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley in 2013. He has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Hurley uses structural biology, biophysics, biochemistry, and cell biology approaches to understand the structure and function of the endolysosomal and autophagy pathways in health and disease. He is known for his work on the structure and mechanism of the ESCRT membrane scission machinery, coated vesicle and endosome biogenesis, lipid transporters and second messenger systems, lysosomal signaling and lysosome biogenesis, and the autophagy core complexes.
Hosted by: Dr. Tarjani Thaker