Research Lecture at Nobel Forum
6 April, 16.30
Xiaodong Wang, Ph.D.
National Institute of Biological Sciences, #7 Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Beijing 102206, China.
Title: “Programmed Cell Death in Diseases and Aging”
The longest ongoing research program of our laboratory studies apoptosis, i.e. caspase-mediated cell death. One of our most surprising findings of these studies is the role of mitochondria, the classical viewed powerhouse and metabolic center of eukaryotic cells, in apoptosis in mammalian cells. Our laboratory discovered that cytochrome c, a component of mitochondrial electron transfer chain, is able to trigger the activation of apoptotic caspases once released from the mitochondria; and Smac that neutralizes caspase inhibition imposed by the inhibitor of apoptotic proteins, IAPs. The release of cytochrome c and Smac from mitochondria is regulated by the Bcl-2 family of proteins. How Bcl-2 family of proteins control the release of these apoptogenic proteins is now the focal point of our research and I will share our latest work on this subject in this upcoming lecture.
Download longer abstract (PDF) —> Xiadong Wang -abstract
Host: Boris Zhivotovsky, Karolinska Institutet boris.zhivotovsky@ki.se
Contact: Tatiana Goriatcheva, Nobel Office, Nobel Forum tatiana.goriatcheva@nobel.se