UNC Pharmacology Presents Zu-Hang Sheng, PhD, Hosted by Juan Song

Dr. Zu-Hang Sheng is the senior investigator of the synaptic function section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

From Dr. Sheng’s NINDS profile page

“Our research goal is to elucidate the mechanisms regulating organelle transport and membrane trafficking and their impact on synaptic function, energy homeostasis, and axonal degeneration.Using genetic mouse models, we are addressing several fundamental questions: (1) how mitochondrial transport is regulated to sense changes in synaptic activity, mitochondrial integrity, axon injury, energy deficits, and pathological stress; (2) how neurons coordinate late endocytic transport and autophagy-lysosomal function to maintain cellular homeostasis; (3) how impaired transport contributes to synaptic dysfunction and axonal pathology. These studies have led to the identification of three motor adaptor and anchoring proteins (syntaphilin, snapin, and syntabulin) that regulate axonal transport of mitochondria, endo-lysosomes, autophagosomes, and synaptic cargoes. The long-term goal of the laboratory is to decipher mechanisms enhancing autophagy-lysosomal function for efficient clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria and aggregated proteins that are associated with major neurodegenerative diseases.To address these issues, we have combined molecular and cellular approaches and live-cell imaging with a multidisciplinary systems analysis of genetically engineered mice. Pursuing these investigations will advance our knowledge of fundamental processes that may affect human neurological disorders.”

Please join us in 1131 Bioinformatics on Tuesday, March 19th at 4 PM when Dr. Sheng presents “Energy Matters: Reprogramming axon mitochondrial trafficking and bioenergetics to power CNS regeneration”.

Zoom is available by request. Email Mimi Baltz at my.le@unc.edu by Monday, March 18th.