Mitochondrial fusion in neural stem cell differentiation in Drosophila development

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• Professor Richa Rikhy, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India
• Wednesday 18 October 2023, 15:00-16:00
• MRC MBU, Level 7 Lecture Theatre, The Keith Peters Building, CB2 0XY.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Lisa Arnold.

Mitochondrial dynamics in the form of fusion and fission have been shown to be essential for stem cell differentiation and embryogenesis. Loss of mitochondrial fusion and fission proteins leads to an abrogation of embryo development in many organisms. We have been studying the role of mitochondrial dynamics in regulating stem cell differentiation and embryogenesis using Drosophila as a model system. We have found that mitochondrial fusion, and not mitochondrial fission, plays a crucial role in regulating neural stem differentiation in Drosophila. Mitochondrial fusion protein Opa1 is important for cell division and differentiation in the type II neural stem cell lineage. Forced fusion of mitochondria by depleting mitochondrial fission protein Drp1 along with Opa1 restores the differentiation defect. Our studies show that mitochondrial fusion and activity regulated by Opa1 play a role in differentiation. The mechanisms by which mitochondrial morphology and activity interact during neural stem differentiation remain to be investigated. To this end, we have used the genetic and cellular approach to find a functional interaction between electron transport chain complexes and mitochondrial fusion in neural stem cell differentiation. I will present our recent analysis of the role of mitochondrial activity and morphology in coordinating activities of differentiation in neural stem cells in Drosophila.

This talk is part of the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
• CamBridgeSens
• Cambridge talks
• Life Science Interface Seminars
• MRC MBU, Level 7 Lecture Theatre, The Keith Peters Building, CB2 0XY
• MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit Seminars
• Trust & Technology Initiative - interesting events

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