Mitochondria are the energy factories inside cells. They鈥檙e critical to neuron function, helping neurons send signals throughout the body. For Gregory Macleod, Ph.D., understanding how mitochondria support neuron function is the key to uncovering mysteries surrounding neurodegenerative diseases.
Macleod, a professor in the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, and a member in the 大象传媒 Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute, recently earned a $1.8 million award from the National Institutes of Health to study how mitochondria support neuron function. The ultimate goal of his research is to collect information that might be leveraged for therapeutic approaches to neurodegenerative diseases.
鈥淲e could say it鈥檚 the lack of energy in the cells that causes these diseases, but since mitochondria are such multi-faceted organelles, we don鈥檛 really know how they become involved,鈥 said Macleod, who is also a member of the Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention.
The lack of knowledge about mitochondria is where Macleod鈥檚 work begins, he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 basic research but it鈥檚 needed to build on our understanding of what is already known about mitochondria and neurons,鈥 he said.
Working with Drosophila, a tiny fruit fly, Macleod examines genes and the effects of their mutations on mitochondrial movement inside neurons. Mitochondrial movement is critical to a neuron鈥檚 health, so when they cease movement, it disrupts neuron function leading to various disorders such as Lou Gehrig鈥檚 disease.
Macleod鈥檚 approach includes inserting or removing genes from the fly to determine which gene and which mutation is responsible for problems with mitochondrial movement, he said. A process, he said, is assisted by a dozen of his graduate and undergraduate students.
It鈥檚 basic research but its needed to build on our understanding of what is already known about mitochondria and neurons.
鈥 Gregory Macleod, Ph.D.
鈥淎t the moment, we are examining 25 different genes because of their association with mitochondria and the plasma membrane, as we suspect that a number of them might be involved in arresting mitochondrial movement,鈥 he said.
Through the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Macleod has access to cutting-edge expertise in electron microscopy. The microscopes use electrons to capture images of biological materials giving unparalleled resolution of neurons and their mitochondria.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e given us a lot of assistance, and if it wasn鈥檛 for their help collecting data, we wouldn鈥檛 have been successful at landing our recent grant,鈥 Macleod said.
Max Planck is also one of the reasons Macleod says he came to 大象传媒, eight years ago. Previously he鈥檇 been an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. 鈥淚 liked the idea of ready collaborations with researchers of this caliber,鈥 he said. 听听听听听