Molecular Signalling

Stress-activated protein kinase pathways are widely accepted to play a significant role in disease progression in and outside the nervous system. However, recent work indicates that these pathways also contribute to development, differentiation, and even survival and proliferation. This suggests that direct stress-activated protein kinase inhibitors may be of only limited therapeutic use. In order to exploit the pathways for the development of novel neuroprotective drugs, it will be necessary to elucidate the mechanisms that organise these pathways into pools with neurodegenerative or physiological functions within the complex structure of neuronal cells.

The Molecular Signalling Laboratory investigates signalling in neuronal cells, with particular emphasis placed on responses to stressful conditions, the impact of stress-signalling on neuronal cell death and the mechanisms cells use to organise signalling proteins thereby ensuring specificity of function and efficiency of signal propogation. The research combines biochemical and molecular biological approaches with single-cell fluorescence methods.