Advances in Biosciences Seminar - Benoit Kornmann "Shared Structural Features of Miro Binding Control Mitochondrial Homeostasis
| Dates: | 19 March 2024 |
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| Times: | 13:00 - 14:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health |
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| Who is it for: | University staff |
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| Speaker: | Benoit Kornmann |
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Abstract: Miro proteins are universally conserved mitochondrial calcium-binding GTPases that regulate a multitude of mitochondrial processes, including transport, clearance and lipid trafficking. Miro binds a variety of client proteins involved in these functions. How this binding is operated at the molecular level and whether and how it is important for mitochondrial health, however, remains unknown. Here, we show that known Miro clients all use a similar short motif to bind the same structural element: a highly conserved hydrophobic pocket in the calcium-binding domain of Miro. Using these Miro-binding motifs, we identified direct interactors de novo, including yeast Mdm34, and mammalian MTFR1/2/1L, VPS13D and Parkin. Given the shared binding mechanism and conservation across eukaryotes, we propose that Miro is a universal mitochondrial adaptor coordinating mitochondrial health.
Speaker Bio: I study the ultrastructural organization of the cell and the biology of organelles. Organelles are separate yet interdependent units of the eukaryotic cells. They provide an appropriate milieu for the catalysis of specific biochemical reactions. On the other hand, the compartimentalization of the cell also creates the need for ultrastructural organization of the cell and communication routes that allow the exchange of metabolites and information across the cell. My research focuses mainly on mitochondria and on how mitochondria communicate with their neighboring environment in an integrated fashion.
Born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, I obtained my PhD in 2006 from the University of Geneva. After a postdoctoral training in Peter Walter’s laboratory in San Francisco, I became an assistant professor of Organelle biology at the Swiss Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). In 2019, I was hired as an associate professor at the department of Biochemistry and a Fellow of St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford.
Speaker
Benoit Kornmann
Role: Associate Professor
Organisation: St Hugh's College, University of Oxford
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Michael Smith Lecture Theatre
Michael Smith Building
Manchester
