Alex Whitworth lab
@labwhitworth.bsky.social
Research group at the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge. Interested in all things neurodegeneration, mitochondrial dysfunction, in vivo genetics, Drosophila, mitophagy, mtDNA, calcium, gut-brain axis etc
Very excited to be a part of this major initiative. Great things to come for Mitochondrial diseases.
Minczuk Lab@mitogene.bsky.social · 11h agoDelighted to share the launch of the Cambridge-led, £50m MRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mitochondrial Genome Therapeutics (CoRE-MitoGT). Over 14 years, we will unite international expertise to understand mtDNA disease & develop therapies targeting its root causes. www.ukri.org/news/mrc-fun...
After about a year from the preprint, our scRNAseq atlas of the developing Drosophila nerve cord has been published in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A global molecular code for birth order and neuronal identity in Drosophila - Nature
A high-resolution developmental transcriptional atlas of the Drosophila melanogaster nerve cord identifies a shared transcriptional code that records neuronal birth order and organizes neuronal d...
nature.com
It was a pleasure to present our emerging story @cambridgeflyclub.bsky.social. Great feedback from an engaged and enthusiastic audience of young (and some not so young 😜) fly researchers. Now let’s hear from some ECRs…
Cambridge Fly Club@cambridgeflyclub.bsky.social · 3w ago💡 First, Dr Alex Whitworth @labwhitworth.bsky.social, explored the emerging concept of the gut–brain axis in neurodegeneration. His talk highlighted how Drosophila models provide insights into gut homeostasis, systemic inflammation, and their links to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Revised preprint on mitochondria in central brain of Drosophila now online: much new analysis + details of largest resource for analyzing neuronal mitochondria generated so far, with ~6M mitochondria, >20k neurons, >5k cell types. Much thanks to all coauthors, enjoy! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Connectomic Analysis of Mitochondria in the Central Brain of Drosophila
Mitochondria are integral to the metabolism and cell biology of a neuron. Electron microscopy images of fly brain volumes, taken for connectomics, can be analyzed for mitochondria as well as the cells...
biorxiv.org
Congratulations Janin!
lautenschlagerlab.bsky.social@lautenschlagerlab.bsky.social · last mo.I am delighted and deeply honoured to have been awarded the Lister Prize 2026 for our work in #ParkinsonsDisease. #ListerPrize2026 #ListerFellows @thelisterinstitute.bsky.social @ucllifesciences.bsky.social @thecimr.bsky.social @uni-jena.de
We're hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit @mrc-mbu.bsky.social Cambridge Join our ARIA Precision Mitochondria project with Bitrobius Genetics to develop novel technologies for mitochondrial DNA delivery and genome engineering www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Medical Research Council Mitochondrial Biology Unit (MRC MBU), University of Cambridge wishes to appoint a post-doctoral Research Associate to join the research group of Prof. Michal Minczuk at th...
cam.ac.uk
“Ultimately, trainees need to take full responsibility for their careers and futures. Self-knowledge, self-awareness, and self-reliance are essential.”
Subhojit Roy MD, PhD@roylab-ucsd.bsky.social · last mo."But doing the minimum required just to keep your advisor or supervisor satisfied probably isn’t the goal. Hopefully, you’re motivated by more than the prospect of avoiding discipline or dismissal" helpimascientist.com/2022/11/20/h...
We are pleased that our article on Ataxin-2 and the integrated stress response in C9orf72 ALS/FTD is finally published in full. A lot of hard work from members of the lab, including @comeflywithjo.bsky.social, and our collaborators link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Targeting the integrated stress response or Ataxin-2 alleviates neurodegeneration in PolyGR models of C9orf72 associated frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Acta Neuropathologi...
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are fatal, early-onset neurodegenerative diseases. The most common genetic cause of FTD and ALS is a G4C2 hexanucleotide repeat ex...
link.springer.com
Great review on an exciting field - emerging technologies to treat mitochondrial diseases, which have potential application to other conditions such as neurodegeneration.
London Mitochondrial Centre@londonmito.bsky.social · 2mo agoWe are pleased to share a new review published in Cell Reports Medicine @cellpress.bsky.social: “Emerging therapeutic strategies for mitochondrial DNA-related diseases” Full article: doi.org/10.1016/j.xc... #Mitochondria #mtDNA #GeneTherapy #GenomeEditing #RareDiseases #TranslationalMedicine
Was intrigued when I saw this initiative launched a little while back. Delighted to see it is working well. Maybe it’ll be the beginning of redressing the balance of power with the publishing houses and help support ECRs and junior faculty.
Daniel Gorelick@danielgorelick.bsky.social · 2mo agoPaying peer reviewers works. Expanded Fast & Fair experiment @biologyopen.bsky.social: • 5.5 vs 37.7 working days to decision with reviews • ~3 vs ~9 reviewer invitations per manuscript • no reduction in editor-assessed review quality • similar acceptance rates www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
For short talks, I’d say practice talks are good because they force you to ‘find the words’ that will convey the message while keeping to time. But these 3 points are where you should always start.
Subhojit Roy MD, PhD@roylab-ucsd.bsky.social · 2mo agoGiving a talk? Don't waste time with "practice talks". Stay in slide sorter view & practice 3 things for each slide: 1. What point/s do I want to convey with this slide (</=3). 2. What's the 1-line summary of this slide? 3. What is the transition to the next slide? Something doesn't fit? FIX IT
You just inadvertently forgot to mention our previous work on exactly this area a couple of years ago: www.cell.com/cell-reports... Same thing works in flies 🪰
Partial loss of MCU mitigates pathology in vivo across a diverse range of neurodegenerative disease models
Twyning et al. show using a single in vivo platform that reducing mitochondrial calcium uptake via MCU or increasing efflux via NCLX is beneficial across a variety of different disease models. These f...
cell.com
A new preprint from the lab led by a talented PhD student Niall Wilson and supported by amazing collaborators Sovan Sarkar, Tetsushi Kataura, Elton Zeqiraj, G. Vignir Helgason, Ian Ganley, and Agnieszka Bronowska #AMPK is the key cellular sensor of #NAD 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Congrats @davetree.bsky.social
Biochemical Society@biochemsoc.bsky.social · 3mo agoCongratulations to David Tree, our 2025 Established Educator Teaching Excellence Award winner, on his promotion to Professor! To hear more about his journey from genetics to educational leadership, join him for his open inaugural lecture at Brunel University London:
Interesting. Miro-Milton/TRAK interaction not necessary for mito trafficking?? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The Interaction Between Miro and TRAK is not Required for Bulk Mitochondrial Trafficking
In metazoans, mitochondria optimally distribute to sites of need through long-range transport events on microtubules. The prevailing model for this trafficking mechanism is that the tail-anchored calcium-binding GTPase, Miro, recruits cytosolic TRAK and associated molecular motors to the outer mitochondrial membrane. Therefore, Miro is proposed to be an obligate adaptor for TRAK required for bulk mitochondrial transport, a process that is considered particularly important for long-range trafficking in neurons, and thus, for viability. Here, we impaired Miro-TRAK interaction in vivo by introducing a point mutation into the Drosophila TRAK orthologue Milton, that impairs its interaction with Miro, based on recent structural evidence. Flies harbouring this point mutation are viable to adulthood. Moreover, neurons carrying this mutation exhibit little to no observable reduction in axonal mitochondria. Mutant flies, however, display progressive loss of motor function with age and reduced lifespan. We therefore call into question the long-standing view that Miro plays an obligatory role in mitochondrial trafficking and challenge the canonical model for mitochondrial transport. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
biorxiv.org
Thrilled to see this work published. Thanks to helpful reviewer suggestions, there are some exciting new insights that were not in the preprint (particularly in Figure 4). www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structural basis for recognition of diverse localizing mRNAs by Egl–BicD - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Singh et al. combine cryo-electron microscopy and functional studies to reveal how a single protein complex selects diverse mRNAs for subcellular localization using a combination of shape, positional ...
nature.com
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology@mrclmb.ac.uk · 3mo agoThe hidden rules behind mRNA transport. A collaborative study between @simonbullock11.bsky.social & @carter-lab.bsky.social’s groups has found a structural code that explains how cells selectively transport mRNAs. Read more: mrclmb.ac.uk/news-events/... #LMBNews @cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social 🧪
So how do mRNAs get localised at specific areas of the cell if there are no unifying sequence or structural patterns? Work from the labs of @simonbullock11.bsky.social @carter-lab.bsky.social @natsmb.nature.com provides insightful answers to this longstanding question. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structural basis for recognition of diverse localizing mRNAs by Egl–BicD - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Singh et al. combine cryo-electron microscopy and functional studies to reveal how a single protein complex selects diverse mRNAs for subcellular localization using a combination of shape, positional ...
nature.com
Reform is a racist party. Voting Reform is a racist act. We must not shy away from calling this out. They don’t get to hide behind “legitimate concerns” and feel sorry for themselves. Their hatred and inadequacy has made them very ugly indeed.
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 3mo agoZia Yusuf, Home Affairs has now put this pledge in a national newspaper article. "If you vote in a Reform MP or local council, I can guarantee you won’t have a detention centre placed near you. But if you vote Green, there’s a very good chance that you will" www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05...
We have a fully-funded PhD studentship (UK candidates only) to work on #autophagy of protein aggregates in the context of #Parkinson's and #Lewy Body Disease. Application through the link below. RTs appreciated! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Molecular mechanisms of α-synuclein aggrephagy and their dysregulation during human ageing at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Molecular mechanisms of α-synuclein aggrephagy and their dysregulation during human ageing at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
Super excited to share our latest work! In collaboration with Antonio del Sol, we show that brain organoids coupled with deep learning screening allow uncovering new repurposable drugs for the incurable mitochondrial disease Leigh syndrome. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Accelerating Leigh syndrome drug discovery through deep learning screening in brain organoids - Nature Communications
Leigh syndrome is a severe, currently untreatable mitochondrial neurological disorder. Menacho, Okawa et al. developed a deep-learning drug screening pipeline in brain organoids, identifying azole com...
nature.com
Drosophila models have been highly useful in dissecting the physiological roles of PINK1 and Parkin in #mitophagy Led by 3 talented PhD students, we wrote a review summarising recent exciting discoveries and discussed these in context of current in vitro studies portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...
If you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, here it is! @gilesyeo.bsky.social gives the @britsciassoc.bsky.social Biological Section presidential address. Find out how new weight drugs work & spot @genotripe.bsky.social & @petergallivan.bsky.social cameos! www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHDk...
Prof Giles Yeo - Gut Feeling: How new weight loss drugs work - 2025 British Science Festival
YouTube video by The Genetics Society
youtube.com
Why choose JCS? - FREE to publish (with OA options available) - Fast-track option for papers with reports - Submissions handled by Academic Editors - Published by a not-for-profit publisher - A tree planted for every peer-reviewed article🌳 Find out more at: journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/re...
🚨 Registration is open! 🚨 Join us for "Mitochondria Vol. 3: Mitochondrial Plasticity in Metabolism and Signalling", a free-of-charge international conference organized by the CRC 1218! 🗓 When: 05–07 October 2026 📍 Where: MTI, UzK Cologne, Germany 👉 Register now: mitochondria-volume3.uni-koeln.de
Had great fun engaging with the public to highlight the fun and importance of mitochondrial research #camfest
MRC MBU@mrc-mbu.bsky.social · 5mo ago#camfest @labwhitworth.bsky.social
Find someone that loves you as much as @dgershlick.bsky.social loves RUSH!! Congrats!!
Journal of Cell Biology@jcb.org · 5mo agoStalder, Pereira, @dgershlick.bsky.social et al. @thecimr.bsky.social uncover new regulators of #Golgi-to-plasma membrane transport, showing that a PTPN23-dependent #ESCRT pathway is essential for secretion of membrane & soluble cargoes, including hormones & antibodies. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
