Professor D. Grahame Hardie
Professor of Cellular Signalling
Division of Cell Signalling & Immunology
College of Life Sciences
University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

Date: Tuesday, 27-March-2018
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Venue: Seminar Room 1, G/F, Laboratory Block
Faculty of Medicine Building
21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Summary:

By switching cells from anabolism/growth to catabolism/quiescence, AMPK activators have potential therapeutic benefits both in Type 2 diabetes and cancer. Indeed, AMPK appears to mediate some therapeutic effects of metformin, while novel AMPK activators have beneficial effects in animal models of diabetes. Professor Hardie will present evidence that knockout of AMPK promotes tumorigenesis in an animal model of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma, while the AMPK activator phenformin provides protection against its development. However, in other cancer contexts, AMPK might enhance tumor growth by protecting tumor cells against stress, and AMPK inhibitors might then have a role in cancer treatment.

ALL ARE WELCOME