Simon Wilkinson
Autophagy in Tissue Homeostasis and Cancer
Research in a Nutshell
Autophagy is an evolutionarily-conserved mechanism by which cells remove old proteins and organelles by transporting them to the lysosome (in effect, a cellular garbage disposal facility). The autophagy pathway also acts as a hub for control of cell fate by degrading specific signalling and structural proteins of the cell. These actions are important for the progression of a number of cancers. We use protein-protein interaction screens, imaging techniques and transgenic models to unpick the molecular events set in train by autophagy within pre-cancerous and cancerous cells. Thusly we gain understanding of new cellular processes that could be targeted for future cancer therapies.
People |
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| Simon Wilkinson |
Principal Investigator, CRUK Senior Fellow |
| Natalia Jimenez-Moreno | Postdoc |
| Marisa Di Monaco | Postdoc |
| Mihaela Bozic | Student |
| Tian En Lim | Student |
| Carla Salomo-Coll | Student |
| Jocelyn Bisson | Student |
| Katie Winnington-Ingram | Research Technician |
Contact
Collaborations
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Christian Behrends (University of Munich)
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Ivan Dikic (Goethe University)
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Jennifer Morton (CRUK Beatson Institute)
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Claus Jorgensen (CRUK Manchester Institute)
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Damian Mole (University of Edinburgh)
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Mark Arends (University of Edinburgh)
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Neil Carragher (University of Edinburgh)
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Juan Carlos Acosta (University of Edinburgh)
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Terje Johansen (University of Arctic, Tromso)
Partners and Funders
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Cancer Research UK / Senior Fellowship / 72 months / £2.1M
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Cancer Research UK / Studentship / 36 months
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Cancer Research UK / TRACC (pre-MBChB clinical) Studentship / 36 months
Scientific Themes
Autophagy, Cell death, Inflammation, Exocrine system, Ageing, Cancer
Technology Expertise
Protein-protein interaction, CRISPR/Cas9-genome editing, Super-resolution microscopy, Electron microscopy, Transgenic mouse models