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

Speaker: Professor Christy Hung, Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, City University of Hong Kong
Talk Title: Human stem cell models of neurodegenerative diseases

Date: 7 November 2024 (Thursday)
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Raymond Chang

Biography

Prof. Christy Hung is a Group Leader at UCL and an Associate Professor at City University of Hong Kong. Her primary research focus centres on understanding endolysosomal dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.

Abstract

Lysosome-mediated degradative systems, including the endosomal-lysosomal pathway and autophagy, are responsible for the clearance of protein aggregates. A growing body of evidence from cell biology, genetics, and genome-wide association studies has highlighted the significance of lysosomal dysfunction as a fundamental cellular impairment in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

My team found that APP and PSEN1 mutations, which are causal for early-onset familial AD, lead to significant defects in endolysosome function and autophagy in human iPSC-derived cortical neurons. We further demonstrated that loss-of-function variations in SORL1, which are causal for sporadic AD, lead to significant defects in lysosome function and autophagy in human neurons. Importantly, we have successfully rescued these lysosomal and autophagy defects using extracellular antisense oligonucleotides targeting APP. Our data suggested that dysfunction of the lysosomal-autophagic system represents a convergent mechanism shared by familial and sporadic forms of AD.

ALL ARE WELCOME.